Seed Funding 2025-26

The following projects below have been successful in the latest round of Care Together Seed Funding. The projects were co-designed with members of the communities that they seek to serve.

Cambridge City

In Cambridge, the mobile gym service delivered by Fitness Rush will be taking free, fun physical exercise and fitness classes to older adults. Cambridgeshire Deaf Association will be funded to set up social groups for the hard of hearing. Cambridge Sustainable Food will receive a grant to offer healthy cooking courses and shared meals for older men. Cambridge United Foundation will offer Love to Move sessions and men’s health support.

Other grants benefiting people in city include support for:

• a carer’s cafe in the Girton area
• Wellness Wednesdays at St Andrew’s church.

Together, these projects, receiving £50,000 in grant money, will support over 340 older adults.

East Cambridgeshire

Grants totalling £60,000 will help to support over 360 older residents in East Cambridgeshire. This includes new villages served by Fitness Rush and their mobile gym. Exercises classes to be held at Haddenham Community Hub and Burwell and District Day Centre. The day centre will specialise in the inclusion of members of the deaf and hard of hearing community. There will also be offers of chair-based exercise from PosAbility. 

Fenland

As with the other districts, Fenland will also benefit from new offers of free exercise and mobile gym sessions delivered by Liam and his team at Fitness Rush. There will also be an exciting new offer enabling peer support for unpaid carers (facilitated by Cambridgeshire ACRE). The Ferry Project will be taking their One Pot Wonders cookery course to March. Cambridgeshire Deaf Association will be funded to offer social activities for the hard of hearing in the district. Living Sport will offer fitness classes for older adults. All these activities are due to start from April 2025. Together they represent £70,000 of county council investment in Fenland for the benefit of at least 420 older adults.

Huntingdonshire

£70,000 has been awarded to partners in Huntingdonshire. From April, a Men’s Shed will open at the Coneygear Centre. A minibus service will take people to the pop-up hubs offered by Hope Against Poverty CIC. Huntingdonshire Society for the Blind will deliver chair-based yoga and walking groups for the blind. Cambridgeshire Deaf Association will be offering physical and social activities for the deaf community in Huntingdonshire. A joint project involving Huntingdonshire District Council, Cambridgeshire Older People’s Enterprise and St Ives Cares will provide physical and social activity sessions for older adults in St Ives. Fitness Rush will be expanding their free mobile gym sessions into new villages in the district.

In total, approximately 540 older adults are expected to benefit.

South Cambridgeshire

A total of eight projects across the district will receive £50,000. This offers mobile gyms by Fitness Rush. Over Day Centre will offer lunch clubs. Physical activity and wellbeing sessions will be run at a community farm by Hope Against Poverty. There will be an expanded day centre offer in Histon by HI Friends. There will be opportunities for socialisation and access to information and advice in Balsham by Balsham Good Neighbours. South Cambridgeshire District Council will receive support to deliver kurling, boccia and pétanque. This will be at communal rooms in supported living accommodation, as well as walking netball at other venues. Cambridgeshire Deaf Association will set up social groups for the hard of hearing.

Together, these projects will support almost 800 older adults in South Cambridgeshire.