Kensington + Chelsea Foundation secures £150k match funding for Covid-19 appeal
Melanie May | 14 April 2020 | News
The Kensington + Chelsea Foundation has secured £150,000 of matched funding pledges for its Covid-19 Appeal from Cadogan, the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust and the Rockspring Charitable Trust.
Cadogan, which owns 93-acres of London around Chelsea and Knightsbridge and is the long-term principal supporter of K+C Foundation, has pledged £50,000 to the appeal. In addition, £50,000 has been pledged by both the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, and the Rockspring Charitable Trust.
The K+C Foundation, which was established in 2008, will use the funds raised by its appeal to support frontline services such as care packages for the elderly and vulnerable residents in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, co-ordinated and delivered by Age UK K+C. The care packages will include food and drink supplies and other essentials and will be sent weekly through the pandemic.
With K+C Foundation’s support, Kensington and Chelsea’s Age UK K+C, a borough focused division of the charity for older people, has set up a core distribution centre at Al Manaar mosque in North Kensington, supported by local delivery businesses donating staff and vehicles.
Council data shows the borough has the highest proportion of lone pensioner households (15.1%) in the country, with 20,000 local residents – 12% of the borough’s population – over the age of 65. The funds will help to support these homes with care packages while individuals are in isolation as a result of the government’s measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Victoria Steward Todd, Director of Kensington + Chelsea Foundation said:
“This appeal will go a long way in supporting local partners to provide essential care packages and further assistance to those in need within the local community.”
“Thanks to the generous donations from people across the borough and beyond, vulnerable and elderly individuals will not be alone during this time. But for our plans to continue, we need more support. We urge everyone to donate as much as they can, so that we can reach those that need it most. The next £100,000 donated to our appeal will be matched by Cadogan and Rockspring Charitable Trust, doubling the value of each gift.”
Hugh Seaborn, Chief Executive at Cadogan said:
Advertisement
“We have been long term supporters of the Kensington + Chelsea Foundation because they provide vital support to projects and partners across the area, which so often get left behind or overlooked. The role of community foundations has never been more vital and they allow organisations like us to channel support to where it is most needed. We will continue to partner with them in the months to come and are extremely grateful for everything they do.”
The Julia & Hans Rausing Trust are also supporting other coronavirus appeals. March saw them donate £2.5m to healthcare charities tackling the virus, followed by £16.5m to Covid-19 causes, including £5m to the NHS Charities Together appeal.
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.