A south London community fund has distributed almost £500,000 to 62 projects in the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton.

The funding from the Beddington Community Benefit Fund of £498,207.35 was established to support communities to make a difference through educational, sustainable and accessible projects.

In recent months, the Beddington Community Benefit Fund has supported three standout charities which include:

Maggie’s at the Royal Marsden in Sutton

A centre that provides free practical and emotional support for anyone living with cancer, including families and friends.

They received £18,000 over a number of years from the fund to support buying books for their library, laptops to enable their clinical phycologists to take sessions virtual and specialist cleaning products.

Since opening, they have become one of the three busiest centres in the UK and saw over 18,000 visits last year.

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Christina Peake

A community project in Beddington saw a local artist, Christina Peake, receive £9750 to run a community-based mural project.

The funding saw wildlife illustration workshops and site visits to the Beddington Farmlands offered for free to local schools and an African and Caribbean heritage society.

These sessions will help guide a community mural that will be painted, using sustainable materials, into the three bird hides overlooking the restoration project.

Startup Croydon

An inclusive business hub and charity just of Purley Way.

They received £29,000 towards a new business lounge to help them bounce back post pandemic.

The lounge is now fully secure and has features which are relevant to the new world of work.

This support will help them to thrive, as well as Croydon’s early-stage entrepreneurs who need a safe and nurturing environment to bounce back post pandemic.

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Projects within a 2km radius of the Beddington ERF can apply for up to £30,000 and projects within the four boroughs are eligible for up to £5,000.

Cllr Tim Foster, councillor for Beddington and member of the Community Benefit Funding panel said: “I am delighted to see three excellent projects showcase the impact the Beddington Community Fund has had for their community.

“Viridor has committed to putting £25,000 each year into the fund and the reason we are here is to ask for more projects to come forward and put their hand in the pot by submitting an application for funding.”

Dave O’Callaghan, Plant Manager at the Beddington ERF added: “At the Beddington ERF we are committed to delivering a vital waste management service every day for the residents of south London. It was a real pleasure to take a moment and see these amazing projects come to life with help from the Beddington Community Fund and we are excited to see what comes next.

“I would encourage any community projects to reach out and find out if you could benefit from the fund.”

Applications for the Beddington Community Benefit Fund remain open, and the panel has said that it welcomes expressions of interest to be sent to the fund administrator at: beddingtonerfcommunityfund@viridor.co.uk