Cllr Paul Claussen with Breckland retail landlord, Adam Irish
A new high street project by Breckland Council aims to help new local businesses open up shops on the district’s high streets.
Through its new “Meanwhile - Enterprise Grant Scheme”, the district council will offer business support and up to £10,000 to help local businesses take on shops that are currently empty in and around Breckland market towns.
The council hopes that this will give fledgling businesses a leg-up, giving the owners of businesses that are just starting out the ability to secure a spot on the high street. The scheme is also open to retailers looking to relocate a business to a Breckland market town. The project will help to reduce the number of empty shops in local towns and villages, ensuring Breckland high streets continue to thrive.
Among the packages of support on offer are up to six months’ free rent, support with set-up costs such as shelving and tills, and up to £10,000 in financial support to help set up their business.
Cllr Paul Claussen, Executive Member for Economic Development and Growth at Breckland Council, commented: “The Meanwhile Enterprise Grant Scheme is ideal for small business owners looking to move into their first static premises and try out a new retail concept. Supporting landlords help fill vacant high street premises in Breckland is also part of revitalising the high street and we are supporting them by finding tenants, increasing the diversity of independent shops and creating new jobs. With business support and financial help of up to £10,000 available, we are delivering on our pledge to help high street businesses thrive and prosper post-pandemic.”
The Cuppa Care project, which offers support for people dealing with isolation and hearing loss, has been awarded £5,000 from Breckland Council’s Inspiring Communities grant programme. The money will help fund the project’s work in Breckland ensuring local people have access to advice, support and to partner organisation.
The Cuppa Care project operates from a mobile bus, from which staff and volunteers visit central meeting points and offer support to the local community over a cup of tea.
The Cuppa Care project is an umbrella project led by Norfolk Deaf Association and delivered jointly with Vision Norfolk (NNAB), Age UK Norwich, Norfolk LGBT+ Project, Norfolk CAB, Norfolk and Waveney Mind, Age UK Norfolk and The Wellbeing Service of NSFT.
Breckland Council has been awarded an award from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for its efforts to offer high levels of support to members of the Armed Forces and their families.
Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, Leader of Breckland Council, and Maxine O’Mahony, Breckland’s Chief Executive, received the award this week from the Ministry of Defence.
Gold status in the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme recognises councils which have put in place considerable support for serving personnel, reservists, veterans, families, cadets, and the wider military community across the district.
Breckland Council's initiatives include signposting armed forces personnel and their families to national and local support groups, 1-2-1 advice to assist with mental health and housing concerns and supporting employment opportunities within local government.
Swanton Morley has been named Norfolk’s first ‘mindful village’ on World Mental Health Day, after a group of residents accessed the Breckland Mindful Towns programme and trained to become mental health community champions.
Breckland Council launched the Mindful Towns scheme in partnership with Norfolk and Waveney Mind and Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney in 2021. The program offers free Mental Health training and education to Breckland based community organisations and small businesses. The programme recognises those areas who engage with the scheme as a community, and who put provision in place to enhance the mental health of local residents, with Mindful Town or Village award status.
A new mobile food store is launching to serve the rural communities of Breckland.
The service will provide a way to shop for healthy, nutritious food and store cupboard staples at a reduced price, to help residents tackle increasing living costs or difficulties getting to other shops due to isolation. Friendly expert staff on the bus are trained to offer wider support such as advice on debt management, isolation & loneliness and mental health, and will signpost customers to a range of services that can offer further help, where needed.
Informed by data, the bus will begin its route in early May, stopping in Swanton Morley, Bawdeswell, Shipdham, Carbrooke, Saham Toney, Ashill, Necton, Narborough, Weeting and East Harling.
Exciting new plans for the future of Watton and Swaffham have been drawn up as part of the Future Breckland project.
Future Breckland: Thriving People and Places is a project to revitalise Breckland’s five market towns and equip them for the future. The project has already seen a plan drawn up for Dereham: plans for Attleborough and Thetford will follow. Now, the newly-revealed plans for Watton and Swaffham are setting out proposals that are individually-tailored for each town. The proposals include long-term goals for the next decade and shorter-term goals for the next one to three years.
The plans have been drafted by economic specialists Hatch, with urban regeneration experts, We Made That, after being commissioned by Breckland Council. The programme is being backed by Norfolk County Council and local town councils.