Town centre events grants announced

Dover District Council has announced a new events grant scheme to help provide support to town centre businesses and encourage free community events in Dover, Deal and Sandwich.

The closing date for applications is 22 November. The grant funding comes from the Council’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund that has been provided by Central Government.

Cllr Chris Vinson, DDC Cabinet Member for Finance said: "We are very pleased to announce this new grant. DDC recognises that bringing well organised events into our town centres raises footfall and supports local businesses by giving them the chance to do more trade as well as showcase their offer to more people.

"We also appreciate that due to the lockdown and social distancing, some events had to be scaled back significantly or cancelled altogether. Now that restrictions have eased, we are pleased to assist local event organisers in this way, to help them make the most of their events, and to help make events that may already have been planned even bigger and better."

To apply, your organization must be registered with either Companies House or the Charity Commission, and have run town centre events previously. Events can be held in the remainder of 2021 or in 2022, and should significantly raise footfall in the town centres of Dover, Deal or Sandwich, be free for the community to attend, and be registered with and approved by DDC’s event planning team, see www.dover.gov.uk/events.

Please remember to keep following the latest Government advice to stay safe.

For full details or to apply for a Town Centre Events Grant, see the DDC website at www.dover.gov.uk/tcevents.