A GROUP in Jaywick is celebrating after being handed £7,000 of lottery funding to help people in the community run their own projects.

Jaywick Forum has been working with the Big Lottery Fund to come up with a project to help people in the village.

The scheme will see grants of between £50 and £1,000 handed out to help people get their projects off the ground.

Gill Elkins, of the Jaywick Forum, said: “We have been working with the Big Lottery Fund on an idea to benefit the community.

“There are lots of ideas from residents and community that would benefit people in Jaywick, but they are often not from larger organisations. They come from real people doing great things locally.

“We are going to run a small funding scheme that would allow these ideas to be funded quickly – to capture the enthusiasm of the community – and easily, and enable people to make their ideas happen.

“Good ideas will be ones that improve people’s happiness, health and well-being, bring people together, improve the local area, and encourage people to be active in and proud of their community.”

Mrs Elkins said the idea – piloted by the Big Lottery Fund – will allow residents’ groups to apply directly to the Jaywick Forum for cash.

Decision-making will be by a panel, including Jaywick Forum, the Big Lottery Fund’s funding manager for Essex and a representative from Essex County Council.

Mrs Elkins added: “We feel that this project will allow us to help local people and groups build on the area’s strong community spirit and bring their ideas to life.”

The scheme is expected to start in May. To apply email Mrs Elkins at forum-jaywick@sky.com.