Snow Patrol lead singer launches Lightbody Foundation
Howard Lake | 12 August 2019 | News
Gary Lightbody, lead singer with indie rock band Snow Patrol, has announced the launch of The Lightbody Foundation, in partnership with the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (CFNI).
The new grantmaker will make funding available to charitable organisations and community groups across Northern Ireland over the next twelve months in areas that include:
- special educational needs
- mental health issues
- and mentoring for young people.
A number of charities have already received support from the Foundation, including SOS Bus, Everyday Harmony, Youth Action NI, Youthlife, Drake Music and Alzheimer’s Society.
The charities only learned who was behind the financial support at the launch of the Lightbody Foundation.
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Speaking at the launch, Gary Lightbody explained how the Lightbody Foundation would support the voluntary and community sector. He said:
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“We will be making donations to five or six charities twice a year. Because of both a looming Brexit and having no government in Northern Ireland for two years, charities, especially smaller ones, are being marginalised and underfunded. We want to try and help some of those NI charities that struggle in these tough times”.
Lightbody said the Foundation had partnered with CFNI who had helped them connect with charities across Northern Ireland.
Commenting on the launch of the Lightbody Foundation, Andrew McCracken, CEO of the Community Foundation, said:
“This is immensely generous of Gary Lightbody, he really wanted to make a difference here, even hand picking the first recipients to benefit from his Foundation’s support. The launch of the Lightbody Foundation reflects his focus on making a real difference to communities and families and so many people will benefit from his generosity. It is truly inspiring and I’ve no doubt that his leadership will encourage others”.
I have just launched a foundation with my family and friends. There is more info on the webpage featured on this post.x https://t.co/Wv7OAmhJxj
— gary lightbody (@garysnowpatrol) July 1, 2019
Tricia Kelly from young people’s charity Youthlife, who will use the funding to provide counselling and peer mentoring to promote positive mental health strategies amongst young people, said the funding was even more relevant to them given Gary’s own struggles with mental health issues.
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.