Northampton Working Men's Club shares frustration at three-month struggle for lifeline grant funding

Northampton Working Mens Club has expressed their frustration at fearing for their future during a three-month back-and-forth with the borough council for a lifeline Covid-19 relief grant.

The club on Sheep Street shut their doors on November 4 ahead of the second national lockdown and hasn't welcomed any members back since.

But in the 11 weeks since shutting, the club has been turned down again and again in its bids to secure any sort of relief grant to keep them afloat during their wait to reopen.

Now, after the Chronicle & Echo made inquiries to the borough council, NWMC has received a grant to cover their lockdown bills.

But club secretary Andrea Trueman says she is still frustrated by the process.

"If someone had picked up the phone just once and explained what was wrong we could have got somewhere so much sooner," Andrea told the Chron.

"The club opened in 1832 and for so long I was worried we were looking at losing 189 years of history.

"The club owns the building and don't have any debts, we just have our bills. We're luckier than most, but still we were worried we could have lost it - not even to Covid but to not being able to get ahold of grants."

The council has reportedly received hundreds of applications for grants from Northampton businesses during each lockdown.

£2.913m was made available during the second national lockdown in November.

The club applied for several grants including the Wet Led Pub grant, the Christmas Support Fund and the Additional Restrictions grant, but was turned down in each case.

Andrea contacted the Chron after the club was refused on the basis it "could not be verified if [they] had been trading on November 4".

It comes after the Chron reported in April last year how hundreds of business owners were delayed in receiving their lockdown grants during the first lockdown.

Council leader Jonathan Nunn later apologised for the delays and said the council was handlnig with thousands of applications and was "scared" of misplacing taxpayers funds by not checking applications thoroughly.

A Freedom of Information request has been submitted to the borough council to investigate the number of fraudulent applications they have received.

A borough council spokesperson said: “We’re administering a huge number of applications, so we’re reliant on people providing all the information we ask for.

"We realise this is a very difficult time for businesses and we want to provide as much support as possible, but unfortunately we are unable to discuss applications over the phone, as we need written records of all correspondence for audit purposes and in case of any fraudulent claims.

“If an applicant provides additional information we are happy to review and reconsider any application which may have previously been turned down within a scheme which is still open.

“We would also urge businesses to apply for the new Local Restrictions Support Grant and Additional Restrictions Grant, which have been made available due to the national lockdown which started on 5 January, as these offer between £6,001 to £13,500 in grant support.

“During the first lockdown, we distributed £36 million of grant support and since 5 November 2020, we have distributed 1,972 grants, worth £5.048 million.”

The application portal, as well as information on all grants available, can be accessed on the borough council website.