EXCITING work taking place to breathe fresh life into Wickham Market and the surrounding area has gained another major boost.Last month the ambitious project was awarded £100,000 from the Market Towns Initiative and now it has received another £13,000 from a government project to help provide long-term improvements.

EXCITING work taking place to breathe fresh life into Wickham Market and the surrounding area has gained another major boost.

Last month the ambitious project was awarded £100,000 from the Market Towns Initiative and now it has received another £13,000 from a government project to help provide long-term improvements.

The main project of the Wickham Market Partnership is a resource centre to be developed with the libraries and heritage department of Suffolk County Council.

The town is the hub of a huge rural hinterland and residents look to it to provide a range of basic services that are not currently on offer.

As well as offering a modern community library, it is proposed that the resource centre could offer facilities for the police and the Citizens Advice Bureau, employment and benefits information, internet access, and a room for community groups to complement those available at the village hall.

Possible future use could also include Suffolk Connexions and community health services such as chiropody, visiting optician and family planning.

The £13,000 announced today has been received from the Adventure Capital Fund (ACF), which is aimed at supporting those offering community schemes.

"We have won one of the first grants made available, and the £13,000 from the ACF will enable us to carry on the work of the partnership beyond the initial first three years of its life," said Cath Caudwell, parish council clerk and company secretary of the Wickham Market Partnership.

"We are now two thirds the way through the Market Towns Initiative three-year funding and while much has been achieved, there have been many projects and initiatives identified that will need to carry on or be started after the lifetime of the initial project."

The ACF grant would enable the partnership, a limited company, to research and develop sound business plans for future investment.

Wickham Market is one of the 20 areas to have gained backing from the new ACF initiative. The government has also announced low interest investment loans or grants of between £50,000 to £300,000 to ten projects that will benefit local communities.

n What do you think – would your community benefit from a community partnership? Write to Evening Stare Letters, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk

WEBLINK: www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk