Projects supported by Durham Area Action Partnership (AAP)

All the projects supported by the AAP and the local councillors over the last year are listed in Durham AAP Annual Report 2023-24 (PDF, 1 MB).  Some examples of projects are detailed below.

Surviving the Fight - Boxing Club Expansion - Go the Distance/Durham Community Boxing Club

Durham Community Boxing Club/Go the Distance received a grant of £8,400 to improve the indoor space to cater for the number of participants wanting to access the sessions and allow for growth of membership. The club also got a grant of £7500 that has helped them to purchase a new competition standard boxing ring.

DASH Part-Time Volunteer Co-ordinator (Year 2)

The second round of funding helped to secure the volunteer managers post and expand the work to involve even more local companies and organisations. The organisation received £14,330.

Durham AAP Heritage Walks - Walk and Talk Trust

The Walk and Talk Trust developed 100 heritage walks right across County Durham. They received £12,400 and this covered staffing costs for the people developing the walks and supporting the volunteers along with signage, waymarking and marketing.

County Durham Community Clothing Bank

The clothes bank based in Framwellgate Moor provides clothing and food to families in need. For them to develop as an organisation they applied for funding to cover their service level agreement with their landlord (Believe Housing) and to cover training costs that would upskill their trustees to better run the organisation. £5,000 was granted to them.

Laurel United Youth Council

The youth council received £7,230 to bring together 12 young people who met monthly with the support of youth workers to discuss key issues and undertake appropriate training. The young people also took part in a residential at the Lake District that focussed on key skills and confidence building.

St Nicholas Churchyard Durham (Phases 1 & 2)  

Phase 1 - Area Budget: £5,000
Phase 2 - Towns and Villages Fund: £28,250 / Neighbourhood Budget: £5,000

Phase 1: The funding was used to create a wildflower meadow within the churchyard and support volunteers to do a more general tidy up in anticipation of a much bigger project to fully restore the churchyard.

Phase 2: The plan was for a partnership project to improve the neglected graveyard of St Nicholas Church in the Sands and to turn it into an area for outdoor recreation, community gatherings and quiet reflection.

Learning Library Onwards and Upwards

The Learning Library provides learning toys and resources for children with special education needs and disabilities. They received £9,970 to help with running costs and to purchase new resources for the use of children and families in the Durham AAP area.

St Margaret's Centre Community Hub

The centre received £16,888 to develop a community hub in the café area at St Margaret's Centre.

Youth of today, Leaders of Tomorrow - Durham Area Youth

DAY received £18,460 Area Budget and £3,000 Neighbourhood Budget to cover elements of staff time, resources, activities, and room hire.

Achor Community - Social Isolation Outreach

Kings Church offer services that support isolated older people in and around Sherburn Road in Gilesgate. This includes a weekly lunch club, a befriending service and gardening service. The grant of £5,393 enabled them to continue to deliver these essential services to older people in the area.

Durham Learning Hive

The funding allowed the Northern Learning Trust to employ a tutor to work with residents of Sherburn Road Estate through provision at the Pelaw View Centre. Activities included healthy cooking on a budget, arts and crafts, local and family history and family learning. The aim was to give people employability skills, functional skills, ICT skills and introduce them to vocational programmes. They received £12,680 Area Budget and £1,350 Neighbourhood Budget.

Move Mates

Move Mates is a project that pairs volunteers with people who have become socially isolated. The funding of £19,297 supported the development workers whose role was to recruit, train and support volunteers as well as managing the pairings and other elements of the project.

Empowering Future Females

This was a new venture that looked at setting up training targeting young women with employment needs, giving them an opportunity to obtain accredited qualifications. The applicant received £12,666.

For a full list of projects supported by the AAP please Contact Area Action Partnership - Durham.

Projects supported by your local county councillors

You can find out more about the local projects supported by your local county councillors through their Neighbourhood Budget on the Your councillors page.