We Are Wychavon Support Fund

Our £5 million We Are Wychavon Support Fund will benefit residents, families, businesses and community groups across the district.

The money will be invested over the next two years and is built around four key themes of:

• supporting wellness
• supporting businesses
• supporting families and young people
• supporting sustainable communities.

In June 2026, we announced the first package of schemes, which will be introduced over the coming months. Read on to find out more about these schemes.

We will update this page with information about how each scheme will work and how you can access them as details are finalised. We will also announce launch dates through our e-newsletter, social media and the local media.

We will announce further schemes for the remaining £1.1 million as the programme develops.

Supporting wellbeing (estimated £1.3m allocated so far)

• Free swimming for under-16s to support children and young people to be more physically active, improve their health and wellbeing and access leisure opportunities regardless of family income. We hope the scheme will also discourage young people from attempting to enter open water by providing a safe, affordable and accessible environment to swim in.
  
  
• Free swimming for over-60s to support older residents to remain active, maintain their physical and mental wellbeing and reduce social isolation through increased participation in leisure activities.
  
  
• Free learn-to-swim sessions for all ages to give residents of all ages the opportunity to develop a potentially life-saving skill while improving confidence, physical activity levels and long-term health outcomes.
  
  

• Reducing fares on the Worcestershire On Demand bus service to help make transport more affordable for all residents, reducing barriers to accessing work, training, healthcare, leisure opportunities and community activities while helping tackle loneliness and social isolation.

This scheme will start in September or October and will cover journeys made in the Wychavon Zone using the Worcestershire On Demand service.

Supporting business (estimated £1.4 million allocated so far)

• One hour’s free parking in car parks across the district. The scheme is designed to encourage more short visits to town centres, supporting local businesses and services while helping residents reduce the cost of everyday journeys. It will apply to residents and visitors, but we expect residents will benefit most as visitors are likely to want to stay for more than one hour and will therefore choose to pay the usual parking charges.

• Support for businesses to create apprenticeships to help fill the growing skills gap hampering the growth of our businesses, while also providing valuable opportunities to young people to gain skills, qualifications and work experience that improve their long-term employment prospects.
  
  
• Targeted support to help tackle youth unemployment. This will help young people furthest from the labour market access training, work experience and employment opportunities, while providing local employers with a pipeline of future talent.

Supporting families and young people (estimated £750,000 allocated so far)

• Provide funding to families facing financial hardship who do not qualify for existing support. This will provide practical financial support to families facing hardship, helping them manage rising living costs and reducing the impact financial pressures can have on health, wellbeing and family life.

• Enhanced speech and language support for children to help them develop the communication skills they need at school, build confidence and reach their full potential. This builds on the success of our existing programme with the NHS

Supporting sustainable communities (£500,000 allocated so far)

• New ward budgets enabling councillors to support small-scale community projects that do not qualify for existing grant schemes. The scheme is intended to help fund initiatives that may not meet the criteria for existing grant programmes but nevertheless deliver valuable local benefits, such as equipment, resources and improvements for community groups, schools and voluntary organisations. Funding can also be pooled between councillors to support larger projects where appropriate.