# College secures new facilities following its first trust funding campaign

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/04/30/college-secures-new-facilities-following-its-first-trust-funding-campaign/
- Published: 2015-04-30T15:02:17+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Barnet and Southgate College has opened a centre dedicated to learners with learning
difficulties and disabilities and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, following
its first trust funding appeal.

The LLDD Centre of Excellence was formally opened on 23 April 2015 by former paralympian
Baroness Grey-Thompson, following the initial success of the campaign, which was
developed with assistance from the [International Fundraising Consultancy](http://www.internationalfundraisingconsultancy.com).

The fundraising campaign has secured £280,000, which has funded equipment including
a hydrotherapy pool, a sensory room, a wheelchair-accessible mini-bus, an independent
living training flat, a drama studio, catering café and a sports hall with rebound
therapy.

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## Fundraising ‘unusual’ for colleges like this

Stephen Forster, Director of Finance and Corporate Operations at Barnet and Southgate
College said:

> “As a sector, colleges have tended not to partake in large-scale fundraising campaigns.
> However, with ever-reducing statutory budgets, it is now essential for such establishments
> to reach out to alternative funding sources. The uniqueness of this project really
> helped with the success of this appeal.”

He added:

> “Sourcing funding to equip our LLDD Centre was a new area for the college. We 
> didn’t have the expertise in-house to do this; and it’s a process that needs a
> careful approach, something we really couldn’t have done without IFC. We are well
> on our way to reaching our target, and I’m convinced that we will exceed it thanks
> to IFC.”

## Funders who contributed

Funding has so far been received from The Thompson Family Charitable Trust, John
Lyons Charity, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Wolfson Foundation and The Sobell
Foundation.

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