£2,000 grants available to combat Covid vaccine hesitancy in Central Bedfordshire

Grants of up to £2,000 are now available to community groups to help them encourage their members to get the Covid jab.

Central Bedfordshire Council is reaching out to community, faith and volunteer groups in a bid to increase vaccine take-up in the area.

The Covid-19 Increasing Vaccinations Fund provides cash to support activities directly related to overcoming vaccine hesitancy - such as community meetings or leaflets.

The fund will provide one-off grants for activities that can get up and running quickly and focus on areas of deprivation and vulnerable groups where Covid-19 has had a significant impact.

Examples of how the grants can be used, include, but are not limited to, costs relating to community meetings; production and distribution of printed materials, including signage; translation services; volunteer expenses or additional staff costs directly related to overcoming vaccine hesitancy; website modifications; information sharing and befriending services and transport to vaccination services.

Applications for grants are invited from the voluntary and community sector and match funding is not required for applications submitted under the scheme.

The scheme runs until December 13.

Cllr Tracey Stock, Executive Member with responsibilities for Communities said: “We know that faith and community groups play a significant role, particularly with some of our more hard-to-reach residents.

"This grant will help them to tackle vaccine hesitancy more effectively; whether it’s breaking down language barriers by paying for translation services; providing transport to vaccination centres or by meeting the costs of a community meeting.

"It is hoped, that by being more able to provide accurate information about Covid-19 and the vaccination, it will encourage take-up of the vaccine and tackle the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on certain groups.”

Central Bedfordshire Council is inviting applications from a wide range of groups – go to the council’s website for more information about the scheme and details on how to apply.