THE Westcountry Health Education and Research Enterprise in Wellington is to receive three years of funding from the town council.

The WHERE Centre in North Street supports adults with a disability and is home to a number of activity groups and people that help to create a safe and friendly environment to reduce adult isolation.

Wellington Town Council discussed a grant application in January asking for £1,300 towards the total cost of £2,575 in relation to the work WHERE does with its partially sighted group.

The finance committee recommended the overall work of WHERE should be supported by the council and rather than make a specific grant, it should look at entering into a three-year Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the organisation.

A draft agreement which looks at supporting WHERE as a whole rather than just the partially-sighted group was given the thumbs up by councillors earlier this month. It will mean the council awarding the organisation £2,000 a year for the next three years.

Town clerk Greg Dyke said it was the ‘first-time ever’ the council had agreed to enter into an SLA.

The council’s finance committee gave its support to the move earlier this month and that was later rubber-stamped by the full council, although the SLA would come with a number of terms and conditions including monitoring the agreement.

It is hoped that in the next three years the number of people using the WHERE service will increase, more volunteers will come forward and that a diverse group of users is supported.

For more details about WHERE go to its website at www.thewherecentre.org.uk