Students, residents and local businesses can now apply for a £500 grant from the University to make their community a better place to live.

The Community Chest Fund has been relaunched and the University is looking to help projects which will contribute to the safety, social harmony and environment of local neighbourhoods, while promoting social responsibility and community engagement among students and residents.

Off campus Student Affairs Manager Melanie Futer explained: “The University of Nottingham and its students have a shared commitment to the wellbeing of local communities. Our students have been living off-campus for decades, and the great majority respect their neighbourhoods, behave with consideration, and contribute with real enthusiasm to local life.

“Having a Community Chest Fund enables our students to work with local residents on a series of projects, which only help to increase this community cohesion. This year we are hoping to get more projects off the ground having seen the success of initiatives such as The Dunkirk Tea Party, Grab a Bag, The Street Pastor Scheme and Improvements to Radford Park.”

Past recipients of a Community Chest Fund grant include:

• The Dunkirk Tea Party, an annual event at which residents, local organisations and the University work together to develop and maintain a relationship between residents and students over a cup of tea.

• Grab a Bag, which has been running for four years, helping The Lenton Centre to collect students’ unwanted items and offer them to residents.

• The Street Pastor Scheme, whose volunteers work with police to make the city centre safer and help people to get home on Friday and Saturday nights.

• Improvements to Radford Park, where students worked with a local school and the Muslim Women’s Centre to plant 107 shrubs and add 1,500 litres of bark mulch.

The re-launch of the Community Chest Fund projects will allow projects like these to apply for funding. To find out more and to apply, visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/currentstudents/yourcommunity/communitychestfund.aspx.