Encourage councillors to establish a Councillors Community Fund to support community groups

Community groups do an incredible range of invaluable work.  They provide services, entertainment and support for the young, the old, the bereaved, the lonely, the homeless.  They enhance our towns and pick up litter.  Without community and voluntary groups, our societies would be far poorer places.

Yet community and voluntary groups struggle so hard to get funding.  The available pot seems to be forever decreasing in recent times.

I have seen at first-hand the ease that the Town Council in Passage West/Monkstown has been able to give to small community groups with a donation of even €120 to help cover essential running expenses.  Councillors around the Town Council table voluntarily donate a portion of their expenses every year as a contribution towards the local Tidy Towns group.  In a small community, these means that these groups need to spend less time organising fundraisers.

I will propose that all members of Cork County Council would donate a fixed and agreed proportion of their expenses annually into a Councillors Community Fund to help support community and voluntary groups throughout the county.