Thank EU very much! (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Thank EU very much!

3:08pm Monday 19th February 2007 in

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From an after-school club to a cutting edge cancer research centre, European money has helped fund hundreds of important facilities across Bradford.

Since the turn of the century, a total of £47 million has been invested by the EU in 195 projects around the city run by Bradford Council.

The total was celebrated at the National Media Museum, itself a recipient of EU cash, by members of the Council's Objective 2 team, which administers European cash around the district.

Since 2000, EU money has helped pay for the £3 million Experience TV exhibition at the National Media Museum, the University of Bradford's Institute of Cancer Therapeutics and the Mind the Gap theatre company based at Lister's Mill.

More recently funding has gone into giant projects such as the £19m Connecting the City scheme to help pave the way for the Broadway shopping centre; the Food Technology Park near the city centre and the community health centre at Grange Interlink.

Councillor Andrew Mallinson, the Council's executive member for regeneration, said: "We have helped develop and provide support to 195 projects, delivering a vast range, delivering a vast range of difficult activities.

"Together the projects cost more than £134 million, of which £47 million was contributed from Europe.

"Work is now progressing on European funding programmes between 2007 and 2013, with a focus on business growth and innovation and creating more and better jobs in the district."

Europe has been funding Bradford's regeneration for years, investing in the redevelopment of the Alhambra theatre and major road works throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Sandy Needham, chief executive of Bradford Chamber and chairman of the Objective 2 business support working group, said: "The range of projects has been extensive, from workforce development, providing training, to match employers' needs and helping companies move into new markets overseas.

"One of the lasting legacies for Bradford was the funding of a Business Broker service. Having the resources to fund the post of someone to work with both communities and companies, matching needs and skills, has been a significant breakthrough."

As well as high profile projects at the likes of the National Media Museum and the university, EU money has also assisted in the funding of important community groups and projects.

The Kidzone after-school club on Holme Street in Holme Wood looks after school children while their parents are at work.

The project picks children up from the school, takes them to the centre and provides them with a snack and places to play and work until their parents collect them.

The £398,644 project received £199,322 in European money and is an invaluable resource to those in the area who use it.

Irene Hudson, unit manager at Kidzone, said: "The money is the second lot of funding we have had from Europe, the last lot coming in the late 1990s.

"The money has been used in all aspects of the scheme."