As you know, in April after securing over £214,000 in pledges of shares, time and materials, we applied again to the Communities Ownership Fund for a £250,000 government grant to enable us to purchase and develop The Fox at Ryton. We were expecting to hear the outcome of our application by mid-June.
The calling of a General Election has changed all of this and all decisions have been halted.
We received the following statement from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: “We have now entered a pre-election period. There will be no further Community Ownership Fund announcements at this time.”
And from our advisors, that their understanding is that: “No decisions will be made about the Community Ownership Fund until a new government is in place and operational.”
This does not mean we have been turned down, but that the process has been paused.
We are bitterly disappointed to have been so close, but hope this is just another bump in the road and we remain committed to finding a way to retain The Fox for the benefit of the community. We will keep you updated with any news we receive.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us - please continue to do so!
Comments