🥳 The opening of the fantastic project at the Gunny on Canvey shows just what can be achieved with lottery funding and a group of dedicated volunteers.

Castle Point has long punched below its weight for lottery funding, which is why I challenged the Lottery to spread more investment into our area. This campaigning helped secure one of the early "Big Local" allocations for Canvey, which funded the wonderful Gunny project which had its grand opening on Saturday.

It was terrific day for Canvey and for everyone who has worked so hard to bring this project to life. A huge thank you to Trust Links charity, Canvey Big Local, the army of volunteers, local businesses and the National Big Local Million team whose commitment has turned a vision into a real, useable space.

Formerly a Second World War Anti-Aircraft Gun Battery and barracks, supporting the defence of London, the Gunny was turned into a park in the 1960's and one of the UK's first skate parks in the 1970's. After years of underinvestment, this development has given the are a new lease of life!

The new Gunny hub includes:

• A community building with a kitchen and two meeting rooms providing a welcoming space for the community to enjoy courses, workshops, social groups, meet-ups and much more!
• The Growing Together therapeutic gardening project to support with mental health and wellbeing: www.trustlinks.org/projects/growing-together.
• Play equipment area: for children and young people to play and have fun including a wooden trail and football goal.
• Outdoor gym facilities for all ages to benefit from physical activity.
• Picnic benches, raised vegetable beds, pergola and accessible paths; creating safe spaces to connect with others, relax, and enjoy the benefits of nature.
• As well as a focus on environmental conservation: the Gunny will become a biodiverse space including trees, wetland area and wildflower meadow.

The lottery still say they don't get as many applications for funding from Castle Point compared to other areas, and we must turn that around. I want to encourage all the good causes in our Borough to apply for grants so I can lobby them hard to give us our fair share!

If you run a local group, charity or social enterprise and you are looking for funding for community projects, please consider the National Lottery Community Fund and Big Local schemes. Small, local organisations can access grants for everything from community spaces and youth work to mental health programmes and green projects. Find out more and check current funding opportunities here: www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk and for Big Local information visit: https://localtrust.org.uk/big-local/about-big-local.