John Lyon’s Charity commits extra £4 million in a year to support children & young people
Melanie May | 25 March 2022 | News
John Lyon’s Charity, a London funder supporting the children and young people sector, has committed an additional £4 million across the sector in one year.
This is to help tackle the impact of Covid-19, and is on top of its usual grant giving of around £12 million.
The extra funding is part of a strategic plan, launched a year ago to protect the sector in the long term, with the core focus on Home – School – Community (HSC); the three main points of reference in any child’s life. Last March this saw John Lyon’s Charity ring-fence an additional £22 million from its endowment to be spent over the next six years to help protect the children and young people’s (CYP) sector survive the Covid-19 crisis.
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Dr Lynne Guyton, CEO of John Lyon’s Charity said:
“The Charity has spent the last thirty years contributing to the maintenance and effectiveness of a varied and vibrant CYP sector in London. Therefore, we could not sit by and watch the pandemic threaten and destroy the many vital organisations we have supported over the years. Just one year on from our HSC launch, we are already seeing the positive effects on many grassroots charities and organisations who have benefitted from this funding strategy. Our groups are starting to rebuild all that was lost during the pandemic but there is no denying that these organisations will need support for the foreseeable.”
Catholic Children’s Society (CCS) is one of the charities to have been awarded funding from the HSC strategy.
Greg Brister, Trust & Grants Officer at CCS said:
“JLC’s Home-School-Community Strategy has been hugely important in helping the Catholic Children’s Society respond effectively to the devastating impact of the pandemic. JLC’s grant enabled us to significantly scale up our efforts to provide specialist support for children struggling with mental health issues.
“We have now launched our Connect-Ed therapy service in eight new schools, providing vital early intervention support for children who have experienced many challenges as a result of Covid-19 (including isolation, bereavement and family breakdown). This work has had a profound impact, helping vulnerable children develop greater resilience and putting them in a much stronger position to engage with school life and achieve their full potential.”
The funder offers a range of grant funds for charities in its area, from its Main Grants Fund and Small Grants Fund to its Bursary Fund and School Holiday Activity Fund.
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.