Community resilience case studies

Three city community libraries have been awarded a total of £1,000 by a local developer to support their work.

Finham, Earlsdon Carnegie and Cheylesmore, received the generous gift from the Watkin Jones Group, which is currently creating a new purpose-built facility for the Coventry Boys’ and Girls’ Club and two student accommodation blocks in the city.

Watkin Jones is one of the country’s leading developers and strongly believes in giving back to the local communities where they work.

They run a Community Fund which local groups and organisations in need can apply to. The Community Resilience Team have been working closely with Watkin Jones to link them with local groups and organisations they could offer support to in Coventry. The team recognised that if the community libraries were to have some new equipment it would allow them to host more events and encourage more residents into their local community library, so suggested them for the funding.

The team asked for £300 to fund a projector and a screen that the libraries could share to support events and host talks to involve local communities.

Watkin Jones decided the libraries deserved one each – along with some extra money to help improve services.

The libraries were one of 10 successful groups to receive funding after over 300 applications from around the country and they were chosen as Watkin Jones could ‘see the impact of their support in the community’.

Adrian Davidson, Construction Director at Watkin Jones, said: “At Watkin Jones we are passionate about creating great places to live that bring positive benefits to communities both during and after construction. This is why we were delighted to get involved and support such a worthwhile cause - one that will no doubt benefit local people.”

Cllr Tariq Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “Libraries are at the heart of local neighbourhoods and provide a vital service to local people.

“I’d like to pass on my appreciation to Watkin Jones. It’s excellent to see this support from local businesses, especially as the funding will further help a number of libraries in putting on local events.”