City cllrs have approved more than £186,000 of funding towards improving community buildings and youth provision projects in the east area of Sunderland.
Sunderland City Council’s East Sunderland Area Committee met earlier this week to approve and align funding from its neighbourhood fund.
The area committee is one of five across the city and the east area covers the council wards of Hendon, Millfield, St Michael’s, Ryhope and Doxford.
At a meeting on Monday (17 March, 2025) at City Hall, cllrs on the panel approved £186,590 as part of the area committee’s 2024/25 neighbourhood funding.
This included approvals of around £124,090 towards “community assets” linked to 11 applications and a further five funding applications totalling £62,500 to support “the extension to east area youth provision projects.”
The neighbourhood funding for community assets was linked to a number of capital improvements for groups operating across the area committee’s patch.
This ranged from building repairs to accessibility improvements, with a number of community organisations set to benefit.
Projects included £3,966 to “replace fire door and improvements to stage area” at St Michael’s Community Centre, £20,062 for “car park resurfacing” at The Box Youth & Community Project and £9,746 towards a “partition wall and extraction system” linked to Sunderland Maritime Heritage.
Other proposals included £13,000 towards the “refurbishment of men’s, women’s and accessible toilets” at CHANCE, £9,950 towards “accessible toilet facilities” at The Bunker CIC and £10,600 to upgrade an accessible toilet at The Salvation Army.
In addition, £25,000 was allocated for building improvement works at Ryhope CA, along with £9,560 for a “wheelchair ramp/safety rail/electronic shutter” at Sunderland and North Durham Royal Society for the Blind.
The final three projects included a “new pool hoist” at Raich Carter Centre (£5,225), boundary fencing at Invigor8 North East CIC (£12,030) and “new curtains, pelmet and backdrop for the stage area, painting and decorating” at Deptford & Millfield CA (£4,951).
Elsewhere, the £62,500 funding to support the extension to East Area Youth Provision projects included £12,500 each for five projects.
This included “Doxford activities for young people” linked to The Box Youth and Community Project, “youth work in every place and space” at Back on the Map, “future in mind” at Blue Watch Youth Centre, “Millfield youth activities” at Sunderland All Together Consortium and “next steps St Michael’s” at St Michael’s Community Centre.
A total of seven applications for the neighbourhood fund community assets funding, equating to nearly £100,000, were also submitted but rejected by the East Area Committee on Monday.
This included applications from Age UK, Back on the Map, Sunshine
Co-operative CIC, Sunderland People First, Eden Community Hub CIC, Three13 Training and Theatre Space North East CIC.
Council officers at the East Sunderland Area Committee said the neighbourhood fund for community assets was “heavily oversubscribed” this year in terms of applications.
However, cllrs were told that some applicants had already found funding elsewhere and that other organisations would be supported to seek alternative funding sources for their projects and improvements.
More information on the East Sunderland Area Committee’s funding decisions on 17 March, 2025, can be found by visiting Sunderland City Council’s website.
