A community centre in Teignmouth is celebrating after being awarded vital funding that will help secure its future.

The Alice Cross Centre has received a five-year grant of £320,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, which will provide vital financial support to help it develop and continue offering its services to improve wellbeing and reduce loneliness.

The funding, which will contribute around £65,000 per year for the next five years towards the Centre's £215,000 annual running costs, provides much needed stability.

Less than two years ago, the Alice Cross Centre warned that rising costs and a reduction in grant funding could result in closure. However, a concerted fundraising effort and a generous legacy enabled the centre to navigate through the financial crisis.

The National Lottery funding will provide the Alice Cross Centre with a steady base as it continues to actively fundraise so it can continue offer its services aimed at improving community wellbeing through social connections, movement, nutritious food and mind.

‘Fundraising is vitally important to the Alice Cross Centre so it can continue to serve the community in a challenging climate, with similar difficulties faced by many charities,’ said Centre manager Peta Howell.

The Alice Cross Centre offers services that support older people, vulnerable adults and the wider community across Teignmouth and beyond. These include meal deliveries, social groups and affordable activities, plus the provision of a welcoming, safe community space open to all.

Each year, the Centre supports hundreds of people by delivering 3,648 meals and running 780 activities and sessions, providing stability to the community, tackling loneliness, and helping ensure fewer local people feel forgotten.

The Centre is one of many community organisations supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, helping local groups to continue delivering vital services and improve wellbeing.

‘This National Lottery grant is a huge milestone,’ said Alice Cross Centre chair of trustees Andy Longford. ‘It has taken nine months of hard work to progress through a highly competitive application and assessment process, and we are deeply grateful for the support we have received,’ he added.

The funding will help secure the Centre’s core running costs, which are the foundations that keep the Centre open, safe, and functioning every day.

‘While it gives us much-needed security, it does not remove the need for ongoing local support, as we still need to raise significant additional income of around £150,000 each year,’ pointed out Alice Cross Centre manager Peta Howell. ‘This funding gives us stability, not surplus.’

‘Receiving this funding is not only a lifeline for the Alice Cross Centre, but for the community as a whole. This money will allow us to continue, strengthen, and grow the important activities and services we provide every day,’ Peta added. ‘Thanks to National Lottery players, we can future-proof the organisation and ensure that the Alice Cross Centre is here to support people across Teignmouth and surrounding towns for many years to come.’