Salford celebrates funding boost to help SMEs and community services

Investment of more than £2m will support small firms and improve town centres and parks in Salford over the next three years.

Salford City Council has secured £2.24m from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) through the Communities & Place element of the fund, after submitting proposals to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which manages the fund in the city region.

Spread over three years, the funding will be used to:

• Improve facilities and programmes for local entrepreneurs who want to scale or build their business at HOST Salford – MediaCity’s innovation hub.
• Bring Eccles Court House in Eccles Town Hall back into community use and,
• Create two new arts, culture, and heritage pots worth £475,000 to support community projects

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said: “We’re committed to supporting a thriving, green and creative Salford and this funding is a significant boost that will help us to achieve these long term ambitions.

“It will be spent on a rolling basis as activities and projects are approved. We’re looking forward to bringing our proposals to life for the benefit of local people and visitors to our vibrant city.”

The arts, culture and heritage fund will be managed by Salford CVS, which will also take forward the improvements to the Eccles Court House in Eccles Town Hall.

Applications for the community grants fund as part of the arts, culture and heritage went live on August 25. The first closing date for applications is noon on October 9, 2023.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business and providing opportunities to boost people and skills.

Cllr David Molyneux, Greater Manchester’s lead for resources and investment and leader of Wigan Council, said: “These three programmes are a brilliant example of how UKSPF money can be put into practice. Putting local authorities at the forefront of the funding allows those working at the heart of communities to engage with local people and ensure funds can be spent in a way to deliver maximum benefit.”

The fund is a central pillar of the Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6bn for local investment by March 2025.

UKSPF has replaced the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). These funds previously helped support job creation, skills programmes, innovation, and carbon reduction in the city region.