HBS 2025 grants update

Harpenden Hopper

HBS grant: £4,000

The Harpenden Hopper community minibus service continues to go from strength to strength. The Hopper minibus serves the residents of Harpenden providing a much needed link for many people who no longer drive or feel vulnerable taking their cars into the busy town centre and trying to find a parking space.

The service runs 5 days a week to a timetable and follows a dedicated route through the main Harpenden residential areas – areas that are not directly served by the main bus services.

The service is run by a team of 22 volunteer drivers who cheerfully collect a wide range of passengers throughout the town and are proud to be part of such an essential service. Over the years the passengers have become a community. Many have made new friends and now look out for each other. The number of passenger journeys each week now regularly exceeds 200 and it continues to rise.

In recent years the Hopper drivers have laid on an annual summer tea party for the passengers at St Nicholas church hall which includes home-made cakes made by some of the drivers. At the last tea-party in August 2024 some 70-80 passengers came along.

The Hopper team also provide private hire of the minibus for local church, social and charity groups. This is also a growing part of the service.

Wheathampstead Wanderers Football Club Pavilion Project

HBS grant: £10,000

On Friday 25th April, Wheathampstead Wanderers Football Club (WWFC) officially opened their pavilion.

Everyone who was involved with the project was invited down to mark the opening ceremony. After being shown around the facilities, various speeches were made about the history of the club and the project itself.

It was clear to see how much it meant to everyone associated with WWFC that after years of meetings and hard work, the project was finally complete. After the speeches, we were invited outside to watch the mayor cut the ribbon and officially open the pavilion.

The pavilion includes changing facilities, a club training room, toilets (with disabled access) and a kitchen, for serving hot and cold refreshments on match days. The outside parking area has also been redesigned to accommodate 130 spaces (an increase from 100 spaces).

The facilities looked amazing and will certainly provide a huge boost for such a fantastic community club. A lot of hard work has gone into the project from many people, and it was great to see so many happy faces. WWFC were beyond grateful for the support Harpenden provided for this project.

The Rotary Club of Leighton Linslade – “Yes We Can”

HBS grant: £3,000

The Rotary Club of Leighton Linslade “Yes We Can” program has recently been able to expand its commitment to support Disability Groups in the local area through its Outreach initiative.

Inserting sports coaches into disability support groups, like Tibbs Dementia, Mencap, and Parkinson’s normal settings is an innovative approach to ensure that exercise connected to sport is open to a wider audience and doesn’t require individuals to attend a separate sports evening when for some this would be difficult.

In addition, coaches are able to deliver a variety of sports related activities that are designed to appeal to a diverse group. So it’s not always one sport, which minimises the risk of disengagement.

This initiative has also encouraged the more active to consider attending an additional sport session. The overall “Yes We Can” program now provides opportunities to participate in Football, Cricket, Croquet, Golf, Hockey, Sailing, Swimming and Tennis.

As “Yes We Can” approaches its eighth birthday, it’s very special to see those with a disability enjoying sporting opportunities that many in the community take for granted.

Citizen’s Advice Money Management Advice for Young People

HBS grant: £4,718.75
Current funding has now run out after workshops were delivered to 581 pupils in a total of eight primary schools within the local community. This represented amazing value for money, working out at less than £10 per child.

There is a waiting list of schools that would like Citizen’s Advice to deliver these workshops to their pupils. The team are keen to deliver more in the future so that the younger generation are receiving meaningful financial education.

Further applications for funding are currently being pursued to enable the programme to run again. Juan, who will lead the programme going forward recently appeared on Mix 92.6 FM to talk about the workshops with interviewer Elly O’ Meara.

Feedback from a teacher at one of the primary schools where a session was delivered.

“Thank you so much for this afternoon! The children had such an amazing experience and really learned so much! The activities were brilliant in helping them understand important skills of money management – I particularly liked playing ‘Black Jack’ with them and the children loved listening to Rich Ricky!”