Safe crossings for school pupils, support for a local foodbank and a fund to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic are among the causes benefiting from Cumbria County Council’s communities budget for Allerdale.

At a virtual meeting of the council’s local committee for Allerdale this week, members approved details of how its communities budget would be spent over the 2020/21 period, as agreed at a meeting of full council on February 13.

Lizzy Shaw, the council’s area manager for Allerdale, said: “This sets out how the budgets are going to be allocated locally.”

She added that an informal meeting of the local committee members which was held last month had determined that the priorities were still fit for purpose in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

School crossing patrols have been allocated £38,154, while £116,587 will be contributed to the council’s community services team and £79,319 has been allocated for use on services for people under 19 years old.

The uses for a universal provision budget for people aged 11 to 19 of £32,908 will be agreed at future meetings of the committee.

The £57,701 remaining of the general provision budget will be allocated to local committee priorities.

Members also noted the allocation of £66,570 to Citizens Advice and the establishment of a COVID-19 response fund of up to £20,000, both of which were decisions made by leader Stewart Young on May 15.

Payments of more than £5,000 from the 0-19, 11-19 universal services and general provision funds will continue to be considered at local committee meetings, with payments of less than that to be considered by the area manager along with the committee’s chair and vice-chair.

North Lakes Foodbank has also been given £4,000 from the 0-19 fund to deliver a service to families in need during the summer school holidays.