Decision details

Recommendations made and reasons:

To award a grant of £9,250 to Dacorum Bangladeshi Welfare Association

In the Spring round 2022 a community grant application was made from Dacorum Bangladeshi Welfare Association which received approval at the grants panel meeting on 15 June 2022

In 2020 DBWA completed the purchase of their premises – the DBWA Centre (formerly the Grovehill Clinic) having relied on moving between community centres for the previous 15 years. This permanent base now gives the platform to expand the range of activities on offer and cater for even more of the community.

Since then the DBWA have expanded weekend children’s classes and ladies’ facilities to include fitness classes. DBWA has also facilitated external speaker led talks (including Mental Health Awareness) and further educational classes. MMA fitness classes are being run for children and adults, and they are increasing their diversity by engaging with more of the non-Bangladeshi ethnic communities (they now have a larger makeup of Sri Lanka, Arab and African members of the community).

With increased use of the building comes extra use of gas/electricity/water. The DBWA Centre inherited a legacy heating/hot water system that has been creaking under the pressure of extended use. Heating use is inefficient as either the whole building is heated up or it stays off, there is no temperature control and importantly there was no hot water.

With this in mind, DBWA have been approved for a Community Grant for 2022 to help with the cost of replacing the legacy heating system with a more efficient and reliable one which can cope with the current and future extended needs of the centre.

Total project cost £12,250

Funding:

£9,250 DBC grant

Background

The Dacorum Bangladeshi Welfare Association (DBWA), based in Hemel Hempstead, was formed in 2005 with the primary aim of supporting the growing Bangladeshi community in the town. They are a non-profit organisation and registered charity who have actively sought to bring together the community providing regular organised activities to cater for all genders and age groups. These activities include classes for children and adults (men and women), congregational prayers, annual fun days and tuition classes primarily focussed on English and Maths. The success and maturity of the organisation means that focus of the organisation is no longer limited to solely the Bangladeshi community. They welcome people from all backgrounds and there is now a significant number of people attending classes and events that are from diverse backgrounds.

The application was assessed through the Community Grant Scheme, which is specifically set up to support Community, Voluntary, Arts and Sporting groups that benefit the residents of Dacorum.  There are three rounds of Community Grant funding per financial year.  Charities are invited to apply for funding and the applications are assessed by a panel of officers, who will be looking at how well it meets the criteria of the fund; whether the project supports the Councils objectives and how it supports the following five ways to well-being: be active, take notice, learn, give and connect. 

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