Weston Charity Awards expand to support charities across Northern England
Howard Lake | 20 January 2015 | News
The Weston Charity Awards, launched in the North East of England last year, is this year expanding to help small charities across the North of England.
Established by the Garfield Weston Foundation, The Weston Charity Awards will help small charities across the North, including both rural areas and cities such as Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Hull and Durham, working in the areas of youth, welfare and community.
It did so after seeing a sharp drop in funding applications despite evidence of growing need for support. A survey, carried out by Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East (VONNE), showed that although 7 in 10 charities were seeing an increase in demand for help, 44% warned they might have to reduce services and over 20% said they could face closure this year.
The 12 selected charities will receive unrestricted funding and support from a team of senior business leaders through Pilotlight, which will help them to become more sustainable and achieve their aims. Over the past 10 years, the charity has connected business executives and charities: the former develop their leadership skills in new areas and the latter receive experienced business coaching.
The Garfield Weston Foundation’s Director, Philippa Charles, explained why the awards were being extended. She said:
“Over the last three years we’ve been shocked to see a significant decline in the number of funding applications from charities in the North. What’s really worrying is that applications from organisations providing community services fell by about 40% – the very areas hit hard by funding cuts. By building on the success of the first ever Weston Charity Awards in the North East, we want to reach more charities across the North, helping them to achieve their goals.”
VONNE’s chief executive, Jo Curry welcomed the move, saying:
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“This continued support of a national funder who has seen the need here in the region and has acted upon it is very much welcomed.”
The Foundation hopes to extend the Weston Charity Awards even further afield.
Eligible charities should apply for the Weston Charity Awards by 30 January 2015.
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.