Public vote Wollaston and Bozeat project as £2,500 grant winner in community group awards

A community group in Wollaston and Bozeat has been voted as the public’s favourite community project in a new competition organised by Northamptonshire-based housing provider Greatwell Homes.

Wollaston and Bozeat is Kind (WABIK) - a volunteer-led group supporting residents across the two villages near Wellingborough- received the most votes in a result that follows a closely fought two-week public vote between four finalists, in which nearly 400 votes were cast.

The group provides practical support to the village communities, redistributing food and donated items to reduce waste and offers help for people experiencing financial or emotional crisis, building connections across the two localities.

Greatwell Homes invited the public to help celebrate the local groups making a real difference in their communities by voting in the organisation’s first ever Community Grant Heroes initiative.

Four finalists were shortlisted from local projects who had benefitted from the housing association’s Community Grants Fund programme, which, for the past decade, has been supporting community groups and individuals that make a difference to the organisation’s customers and neighbourhoods across Northamptonshire.

To help drum-up votes, each group produced a short video to explain the projects, which were then posted on Greatwell Homes’ Facebook page.

In winning the most votes, WABIK secured an extra £2,500 cash boost from the housing association to support the work of the group.

Other finalists in the inaugural competition included Wellingborough community litter-picking group Wellie Wombles, Wellingborough foodbank Redeem Foods and Wrenn School Young Carers Group who supports students who have caring responsibilities at home.

As runners-up in the competition, each group will receive £250 to further help their projects.

All finalists were selected after Greatwell Homes’ Customer Assembly reviewed the successful Community Grant Fund entries from the 2025/26 funding year.

Since the Community Grants Fund was established in 2016, Greatwell Homes has invested more than £150,000 into grassroots initiatives and for 2025/26 doubled the annual funding pot to £30,000.

Chris Holloway, executive director at Greatwell Homes, said: “First and foremost, on behalf of everyone at Greatwell Homes, I’d like to say a huge congratulations to Wollaston and Bozeat is Kind and all of the finalists who thoroughly deserve their recognition in our first ever Community Grant Heroes.

“The work of all the projects has been truly inspiring and with close to 400 votes they have all clearly captured the Northamptonshire’s public’s imagination.

“If any local community group is looking for support, I’d really encourage them to apply for our Community Grants Fund. Not only might they get secure the cash boost they need to benefit their community, they could become our next Community Grant Hero.”

Moria Bovenzi, chairman of Wollaston and Bozeat is Kind, said on receiving the news that the majority of the additional funding will be dedicated to supporting the well-used foodbank element of the community project.

She added: “We’re really grateful for this money from Greatwell Homes. We were worried we wouldn’t be able to continue our support at this rate past April time, but with this donation we’ve now secured enough to continue – this has definitely kept us going.”

Following the success of the awards, Greatwell Homes will look to repeat the competition each year. For any community groups or projects interested in applying for the housing provider’s Community Grants Fund, they can visit www.greatwellhomes.org.uk/get-involved/community-grants-fund-apply-today.

Greatwell Homes is one of the largest housing associations in Northamptonshire, owning and managing more than 5,200 homes in Wellingborough, Kettering, Raunds and Northampton.