THE Lord Mayor of York has teamed up with a local foundation to set up a new fund to benefit the local community.

The Lord Mayor of York’s Fund, set up by Councillor Janet Looker and the Two Ridings Community Foundation, will award grants of up to £5,000.

Both organisations and individuals can benefit from the grants, but they must fall within the two categories; children and young people and community arts.

Lord Mayor of York said: “I look forward to working with Two Ridings Community Foundation to ensure that awards will be made where the need is greatest.”

“We recognise the importance and value of supporting young people and investing in community arts, and will use this civic year to help build back a better York.”

The fund has been supported by businesses, including Portakabin, and also people, such as Sir Hugh Bayley, who did a 110 mile sponsored walk to raise donations for the fund.

The Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Janet Looker was one of the founding members of the City of York Council and the longest serving councillor in York, she has a passion for helping her local community.

This is the second time that Janet has been asked to be Lord Mayor of York, showing how confident people are in her ability to be able to hold office in such an unprecedented year.

Two Ridings Community Foundation is a grant making charity that supports essential funding for small, community projects in North and East Yorkshire, York and Hull. It has distributed over £8 million to over 3,000 projects across this area and has raised an endowment of over £4 million for the long term benefit of local communities.