MONEY is starting to flow from the Toothill £1m Big Local grant as the larger pots of money are ready to be released next month.

The committee have been working behind the scenes to produce a community vision document, which outlines the areas in which residents would like the money to be spent.

The document is the product of a number of community engagement meetings over the past year, where residents have been invited to apply for areas of revenue.

The focus for spending in the community has now been narrowed down to prioritise play areas, parks and open spaces, the community and village centre, and the Toothill Farmhouse, which hosts a number of community activities.

The community vision document has now been submitted to the Big Local Trust for endorsement, following which the larger pots of money will be released to valid schemes.

Since the grant was awarded to Toothill, small grants of up to £500 have been awarded to various projects in the area, and has so far allowed CCTV to be installed at the GP surgery in the village centre, a new storage shed to be built at Oliver Tomkins School, and repairs to be carried out at the home of the Toothill Scouts.

More ambitious schemes can now be applied for as the second round of funding goes live on July 1.

Peter Egan, deputy chairman of the Toothill Big Local partnership committee, drew up the community vision document.

“We are approaching the process in two parts,” he said. “One deals with smaller bids, and that is the community chest which has been inviting bids so far. In parallel to that we are working on the larger bids.

“Larger projects are being processed, but they have to meet the funding criteria, and these things should be in place next month.”

Kareen Boyd, chairwoman of the Toothill Big Local partnership committee, said: “Now that our plan is ready for endorsement we are on track to invite larger bids from the £1m pot from July.

“It has taken all of the areas awarded this grant a while to get started. There is a clear process we have to follow, and it is important that we do it properly.

“Due to the hard work of many involved from the outset a solid foundation is now in place to make Toothill an even better place to live. We are keen that people understand just what a fantastic opportunity this is for Toothill.”

The Big Local committee are currently recruiting for a paid administrative assistant to help with the construction of their website after the former website manager left last year, and to help with their social media presence.

Anyone interested in the position should email Toothill.bl2013@outlook.com. Training sessions for those applying for larger pots of funding will run on July 2 and 10.