SMALL community groups are being offered a helping hand in Headington this month.

Headington Action, an organisation made up of businesses, voluntary groups and authorities, is urging people to come forward for their new Small Sparks initiative.

It will give out grants to any small group in Headington which is “doing something they would not normally do”.

The chairman of Headington Action, Patrick Coulter, said: “We run the Farmers’ Market in Headington every month, which makes us a small profit.

“That money belongs to the community, so we wanted to find a way to give it back to them.”

The group plans to pay out £1,000 in grants over the course of a year, offering a maximum of £250 to each group.

Mr Coulter said: “We want to give out money to groups doing something they wouldn’t normally have done without it.

“So if someone wanted to create a residents’ group, we could give them £100 to help them advertise and get started.

“Or if another person was hoping to start a gardening group, then we could give them the money for some tools.”

Headington Action also helped this year’s Headington Festival become entirely self-funding.

It was the first year the event required no help from the city council, while similar events like the Barton Bash were cancelled due to the loss of council funding.

Mr Coulter said: “This year we actually broke even at the festival, instead of losing money, so it has been good.”

He added: “The difficulty now is letting people know the money is out there for them, we are having problems getting people to make requests.

“We just want to get the message out that anyone in Headington can apply for this money.”

Ruth Wilkinson, one of Headington’s city councillors, said: “I think this Headington Action initiative is a great idea.

“Often community projects for fun activities and creative projects don’t qualify for grants from the council as they don’t meet the necessary criteria.

“That’s a real shame as these are exactly the sort of things people would like to get involved with.

“And activities like this can help a lot in bringing neighbours together and build up community spirit.”

She added: “There are a lot of people in the North East of Oxford with huge skills and talents.

“Small Sparks money will enable them to get their projects off the ground and help other people to get inspired too.”

For more information call Janet Isaac 01865 762128 or email jmisaac@btinternet.com