Garfield Weston Foundation launches £5m fund as part of 60th anniversary year
Melanie May | 15 January 2018 | News
The Garfield Weston Foundation has launched a new £5m fund to celebrate its 60th anniversary year, along with a warning that many small community organisations are at risk if they do not receive more support.
The £5m Weston Anniversary Fund is a one-off scheme for the Garfield Weston Foundation’s 60th year, launched to help local charities provide new or improve existing community facilities.
It will look to award up to £150,000 funding for each charity that successfully applies, with a deadline for
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applications of 30 June. Further information is available on its special 60th anniversary site.
The Foundation’s 60th anniversary year will also see it make its £1billionth donation, bringing the total number of individual grants awarded to over 40,000 so far.
A recent survey by the Foundation found that two-thirds (66%) of small charities expect their income to stay the same or decline in the next 12 months, yet over half (55%) expect to be delivering more services.
Care4All (pictured), a local charity providing social care support for hundreds of vulnerable people in North East Lincolnshire, took on the funding of the ‘meals on wheels’ service after the local authority could no longer afford it. The charity was successful in applying for funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation for replacement vehicles.
Jo Barnes, Care4All Chief Executive, said:
“This last financial year has been the worst I’ve ever known because we have really seen all the money being sucked out of social care – there is just no funding. It is very difficult. Our meals on wheels service was at risk because our vehicles were so old and kept breaking down. As I looked for grants it became clear that funders wanted to fund the ‘popular’ projects and not something that was pretty unsexy, such as replacing old vans.”
Philippa Charles, Director of The Garfield Weston Foundation, said:
“At a time when communities are struggling to support those in need, we felt it was important to launch a fund that would help bring local communities together. By funding capital projects, we want to ensure that charities have the facilities they need to do more of their great work.
“You only have to look at what’s happening to youth services across the country to see how vital good community support is. Without these services many vulnerable people will be at risk. We want to help small, local charities give people a safe place to go to get the help that they need, at the time that they need it.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.