Hackney's Core Arts Charity is awarded £200,000 by The City of London's City Bridge Trust
Howard Lake | 18 February 2008 | News
Core Arts in Hackney has received a big cash boost thanks to a £200,000 grant awarded by the City of London’s City Bridge Trust. The grant has been given to Core Arts so the charity can purchase the freehold of St. Barnabas Centre for Creative Communities, which focuses on helping people who suffer mental ill health and are registered disabled.
The charity, established 14 years ago, is a unique organisation providing a range of visual art, music, and multi-media opportunities for people with mental health problems living in Hackney and surrounding areas. The demand for such a service is well documented, with the levels of mental ill health in deprived boroughs such as Hackney being significantly above the national average.
With Core Arts offering 52 workshops each week in creative writing, painting, music and singing, the grant will allow for Core Arts to buy the building in which the charity functions. Says Ms Giuliana Molinari – Business and Fundraising manager of Core Arts, “We were over the moon when the funds were approved, it will enable us to purchase St. Barnabas Church, with the project continuing to benefit hundreds of people with poor mental health”
The City Bridge Trust has awarded over £200 million to London’s charities and community groups in the last twelve years to help the lives of disabled people, children, young people and older people in London communities, as well as supporting environmental projects and the voluntary and community sector.
It is the largest, independent grant making trust in London following an Act of Parliament in 1995 which allowed surplus monies from the ancient trust (originally set up to maintain the five London bridges crossing the Thames into the City) to be spent for the benefit of Londoners, through charitable grant making. The Trust’s £620 million fund was built up over 900 years, originating from ancient taxes imposed on London Bridge.
Says Clare Thomas, Chief Grants Officer at The City Bridge Trust; “This grant application was commended by our committee and clearly demonstrates the tangible outcomes for East London’s communities through Core Art’s work. We look forward to seeing how the charity’s work will grow as a result.”
To find out more about The City Bridge Trust and its grants, charities should log onto www.citybridgetrust.org.uk
Those wanting to find out more about Core Arts, please contact Business and fundraising manager – Ms Giuliana Molinari, 1 St. Barnabas Terrace, Homerton, London. E9 6DJ. Tel: 020 8510 9990. www.corearts.co.uk
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Notes to Editors:
The City Bridge Trust
The City Bridge Trust is London’s largest independent grant-making trust, of which the City of London Corporation is the sole trustee. Through its grant-making and strategic initiatives, The City Bridge Trust works closely with voluntary groups and charities to reduce disadvantage in London. The City Bridge Trust was set up in 1995 as the grant making arm of Bridge House Estates whose original purpose was to maintain the first stone bridge across the River Thames – London Bridge.
www.citybridgetrust.org.uk
City of London Corporation
The ancient City of London Corporation has a 21st- century role supporting the business City as the world’s leading international financial and business centre. The City of London Corporation provides local government services for the City of London “Square Mile” at the heart of London – but its responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and include paying for and running the Barbican Centre, Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, and three wholesale food markets, as well as acting as the London Port Health Authority. The City of London Corporation is the sole trustee of The City Bridge Trust.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.