ALTON Community Association is reeling from the shock news that it is to lose £6,000 of core funding from East Hampshire District Council (EHDC), leaving it with a big shortfall in its 2018/19 budget.

In a letter to Alton Community Centre manager Maria Elliott, dated January 31, a district council officer confirmed the three-year partnership funding awarded to the community association for the running of Alton Community Centre would cease from April 1.

The letter continued: “The council recognises the excellent work you have delivered over the years and hopes that in the future there will be other opportunities to support your organisation.”

While understanding the disappointment this news may bring, the officer pointed out that councillors would still be receiving devolved grants to the tune of £4,500 a year to spend on projects in their area, which Alton Community Association could apply for.

Having received financial support from EHDC for almost 40 years, sometimes as much as £14,000, community association trustee Pat Lerew was angry at being given just two months notice of withdrawal of funding that is vital to the running costs.

Describing it as a “heavy blow”, Mrs Lerew said: “We have staff to pay as well as utilities and the work needed to keep the old building going, which means we can never build up reserve funds.”

In her response to EHDC, Mrs Lerew said: “To be given only two months notice of a large reduction in our revenue funding will be difficult to cope with in the short term.”

She was surprised to have been directed instead to councillor devolved grants, pointing out that this funding was only available for projects and new initiatives.

“Surely you must realise that we, and I am sure most other community associations on your patch, use your partnership funding for revenue expenses, which is almost impossible to get from any other source,” she responded.

Fortunately, Alton Town Council’s policy and resources committee approved its annual core client grant of £8,000 to Alton Community Association – due to have been ratified at full council last night.

Mrs Lerew said that, unlike EHDC, the town council is “prepared to raise the precept in order to keep the valuable service we give to the local community going. Would that EHDC had a similar attitude toward the wellbeing of its constituents.”

And she added: “I am glad that EHDC recognises the excellent work we (at Alton Community Centre) have delivered over the past 42 years. It is a pity that it is no longer prepared to put its money where its mouth is. Such platitudes don’t pay the bills and your suggestion that we ask individual councillors for the money is on the edge of insulting when you know that the rules do not allow this.”

It is a subject raised by the Alton Society whose chairman, Nicky Branch, has written to EHDC’s Cabinet asking that consideration be given to looking at a change to the rules regarding councillors’ devolved funding to allow it to be used “to support core costs of vulnerable communities”.

And he has received confirmation that it is already under discussion.

On partnership funding, an EHDC statement explained that the council remained “committed to supporting partner organisations”

“However, we must make sure the grants we issue are focused on projects that most closely match the council’s priorities,” the statement went on.

“We are holding a review of our grant funding policy to establish how best to harness council and other funding streams to support our most vulnerable communities. This isn’t about making cuts, this is about identifying the most effective methods of channelling public funds to these important organisations.

“For the past 15 years EHDC has provided annual funding to a variety of partner organisations who provide excellent support and services to our local communities. Three years ago, partners were advised that this funding would be coming to an end in 2018/19 in line with a review of all grant funding.”

Mrs Lerew said that three years ago Alton Community Association was told “there would be a change in the way we were funded, not that there would be no funding at all”.

She argues that the review should have happened before the funding was withdrawn and that it should not have come “like a bolt out of the blue”.

And she added: “How are we going to continue to help some of the most vulnerable in Alton with no funding?”

EHDC is continuing to fund Community First and Citizens Advice East Hampshire – the former being its own community team who, it assures, are “very experienced in finding alternative sources of funding and this knowhow and expertise will be made available for community organisations looking for this kind of support”.

An EHDC spokesman said: “We have also invited Alton Community Association and other organisations to sit down with us to discuss the review and look at options for the future.”

* A public consultation will be launched at Alton Town Council’s annual meeting at Alton College on March 21 into the new community facility proposed for the Coors brewery site. This is a joint consultation run by the town council and EHDC to determine public expectation and need.