Highways England is inviting people to apply for grants of up to £10,000 to help lock in the benefits of the A14 upgrade project that starts later this year.
The A14 Community Fund, a series of grant rounds worth up to £10,000 per project, aims to bring real, positive change and to bring local communities in Cambridgeshire closer together.
The grants will be awarded over the next two years for community projects across a wide range of areas including the environment, health and well-being, heritage, arts, skills, and culture.
The team is inviting project proposals for the first round of grants from today (Monday 18 July).
Ideas are invited from across the communities and from a range of not for profit organisations such as schools, community groups, and parishes and clubs, who are delivering charitable projects with public benefit.
Gerard Smith, legacy lead on the A14 project at Highways England, said:
“The construction of the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme will have a lasting impact on communities that live around it, opening up opportunities for positive initiatives to the benefit of everyone in the area. This fund will help to kick-start those opportunities and ensure that the new A14’s legacy will go way beyond that of a normal road improvement project.
“We want to work with local communities to make the most of these opportunities and ensure we leave behind a positive legacy once the project is completed.
Project applications should take into account the transformation that the new road network will bring to their area, and seek to reflect and take advantage of the changes.
For full details of the A14 Community Fund and to submit proposals, visit www.cambscf.org.uk/A14.html. The deadline to submit proposals is 15 September.
The 21-mile A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme is on schedule to start construction in late 2016.