£4m anonymous donation to help homeless people in West Midlands
Howard Lake | 21 December 2017 | News
An anonymous donor has given £4 million to the Heart of England Community Foundation to help homeless and vulnerable people in the region.
The seven-figure gift to the Coventry-based charity is provided to create new or upgrade existing accommodation for homeless and vulnerable people.
The Heart of England Community Foundation is a specialist grant-making charity which awards funding to projects across the West Midlands. It is one of a network of Community Foundations across the UK.
It will use the donation to support three major initiatives in the new year, each with a value of around £1 million.
The other £1 million will be added to the Foundation’s endowment fund, which is invested to guarantee a legacy of giving for communities in years to come.
Grant applications open in 2018
The Foundation will open the grant application process next year. It will be open to local, not-for-profit organisations with an annual income of less than £15 million.
“Incredible gift’
Tina Costello, CEO of the Foundation, said: “This is an incredible gift to receive just before Christmas and is a huge investment into the third sector locally. There is a real need for good-quality, accessible accommodation for vulnerable people in the West Midlands so we are delighted to be launching a programme of this kind.”
He anticipated applications for support for a range of projects.
“This could be supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, women and children leaving abusive situations and in need of refuge or people with disabilities who need specialist accommodation”, he said.
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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.