EAST Hampshire District Council has had a change of heart on its community centre funding, following fierce public criticism.

At its full council meeting last Thursday, members recommended that community associations should receive one more year’s worth of funds - backtracking on a previous decision to cut the lot.

This came as campaigners delivered petitions and heartfelt pleas for further financial assistance.

The council will now return to cabinet in the coming weeks with a motion to reinstate the 2018-19 grants, but they come with some conditions.

District council leader Richard Millard (Cons, Headley and Headley Down) said it was important for community organisations to be sustainable without the need for council hand outs, describing this extra batch of funding as a “one year ticket” to the “last chance saloon”.

But for the Whitehill and Bordon Community Association, which operates the Forest Community Centre in Bordon’s Pinehill Road, it seems too little too late.

For the past three years, the district council has granted the Community Association £6,000 annually towards its costs - funds which had just about kept it afloat - but things had always been tight.

Last week Community Association chairman Lawrence Tristram confirmed the economic circumstances will see the organisation surrender its lease on the Forest Community Centre on March 31.

This position, he said, remains unchanged, despite the district council’s change of heart. Throwing in the towel had been something the Community Association had been “hovering on” for a while. Mr Tristram said that in the years he had chaired the association it had always been “a struggle” to make ends meet.

He added that, although last week’s recommendation should be taken with a “pinch of salt” until voted through, it was “hopeful”.

Ultimately though, it would not make a “great deal of difference” in the long run - at best it would be “postponing” the inevitable for another year.

A council spokesman said: “Following last week’s full council meeting, it has been recommended that associations annually funded by East Hampshire District Council will receive a further year’s grant funding.

“This money will be awarded alongside various conditions intended to ensure it is used on work that meets the district council’s social priorities. The council will be working with these organisations over the next few months as part of a larger review of grants, and a new assistant portfolio holder will be appointed to oversee this work.

“The council is committed to supporting partner organisations. But we must make sure the grants we issue are focused on projects that most closely match the council’s priorities. We are holding a review of our grant-funding policy to establish how best to harness council and other funding streams to support our most vulnerable communities.

“Three years ago, all the district council’s funding partners were advised that their funding would be coming to an end in 2018-2019 - in line with a review of all grant funding. However, it is evident that some organisations need further support while the review is taking place and so an extra year’s funding has been proposed.”

But what about the Forest Community Centre?

This week Whitehill Town Council, based in the centre, said it was looking into all options. “Whitehill Town Council, East Hampshire District Council and the Whitehill and Bordon Community Association are working together to find a long-term solution to ensure a sustainable and vibrant future for the Forest Community Centre,” a town council spokesman said. “The preferred option at this time is for Whitehill Town Council to carry out a feasibility study into taking over the running of Forest Community Centre in a way that is both beneficial for local residents and uses local ratepayers’ money wisely.

“Whitehill Town Council will be able to provide further updates in due course, once progress is made.”

As the Forest Centre, which the district council owns, hosts Citizens Advice and the town council, it is unlikely it will close. But, as it stands, unless another leaseholder steps up to the plate soon, staff at the centre - employed by the Community Association - face possible redundancy.

Local community associations are all in similar boats. Alton Community Centre’s situation generated a petition with more than 1,000 people signatures, delivered to councillors last week.

Helen Dayson, chief executive of the Kingsley Organisation which runs the Kingsley Centre, had been concerned over the loss of its £10,000 grant.

Although aware the funding was expiring this year, she said the organisation had been kept in the dark about precisely what would happen and whether it would still get some level of grant assistance. But last month, in a letter from the district council, they were told their partnership funding would come to an end.

For the organisation, finances are tight even with the grant. If it does return for 2018-19, it will mean the organisation has a £17,000 deficit, instead of a £27,000 deficit. The proviso that it has to use this year to figure out how to generate revenue will not be straightforward. “To make yourself completely sustainable is challenging,” Ms Dayson said, adding that she had not been “sitting back idly” over the past few years.

She said, the centre is consistently reviewing its hiring costs, proactively applying for funding and tries its best to be sustainable.

But perhaps with the district council’s assistance and an extra 12 months of breathing space, community associations will find their way out of the woods.