COUNCIL chiefs have launched a new £320,000 fund to help the community recover from the pandemic.

Schemes promoting efforts to enable people to bounce back from coronavirus can benefit from grants of between £5,000 and £20,000.

Town hall officials say the new fund is a key part of their wider £795,000 health and wellbeing recovery programme for the borough.

Community groups, charities, social enterprises, voluntary groups, clubs, societies, and schools can all apply up to Tuesday, November 30.

Cllr Andrea Simpson, the council’s health and wellbeing cabinet member, said: “The last 18 months has severely impacted our communities, both physically and mentally.

“We want to do everything we can to support residents of all ages to recover from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic and we want to help people build more resilience into their lives and bounce back stronger.

“Making funding available via our Let’s Do It Health Improvement Community Fund will help us do just this and I’d urge those eligible to apply before the deadline.

“Let’s get lots of locally-delivered projects off the ground as soon as we can, assisting our communities to adapt and thrive.”

Council officers say all applications to the fund must be for projects to be delivered within the borough of Bury.

And projects must support good health and wellbeing and preference will be given to those that target young people, families with young children, members of BAME communities, carers and the clinically vulnerable.