Community groups which failed to qualify in the first round for Bradford Council grants are now chasing more than ten times the amount of cash still on offer.

The Council has a pot of £200,000 to share out between the 90-plus groups which have submitted appeals for funds.

But their requests added together total more than £2 million.

Now the groups must wait for December 16 when a committee will decide which groups will get a share of the remaining kitty and which will be losers.

The deadline for appeals was 5pm last Friday. Among those which put in requests was the Asian arm of DIAL (Disability Information Advice Line) and the drug-busting workers at the Ripple Project in Buttershaw.

Community grant unit manager Philip Baldwin told the T&A last week: "The budget is still significantly oversubscribed and there is not going to be sufficient money to meet all the requests we are receiving."

It is the second year for a controversial points system which allocates marks according to the answers given on the grants application form.

Bradford Community Transport, which runs a fleet of 20 minibuses for the benefit of voluntary groups, believes it lost a crucial five points because of questions such as whether its

services were specifically for people with

disabilities.

Manager David Noble said he was forced to answer no because BCT provided transport for elderly people and schoolchildren as well as disabled people.

He said failure to secure £22,000 from the Council would mean tripling the operation's charges, putting the service beyond the reach of many small voluntary groups.

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