Virgin Money Foundation support for the North East
Melanie May | 11 December 2015 | News
Virgin Money’s charitable foundation the Virgin Money Foundation has announced its first round of individual grants to the North East.
Almost £900,000 will be shared between 25 charitable organisations across the region. Grants of up to £50,000 each are being awarded to a range of community projects from social enterprises creating jobs in a healthy food takeaway and a specialist garment manufacturing business, to a housing service for vulnerable women and children.
The Foundation formally launched in August 2015 with £8 million of funding over the next four years, contributed by Virgin Money and the Cabinet Office. Also in August, the Foundation invited applications from community projects in the region looking for funding of between £10,000 and £50,000, and eligible applications were judged against criteria including overall impact, enterprising behaviour, jobs created and the amount of additional investment likely to come into an area.
Nine grants will go towards helping disadvantaged young people into employment, while a further nine will support a new or existing social enterprise, and seven will be linked to helping homeless people find and keep a home.
Recipients include social enterprise Food Nation (pictured), Lynemouth Community Trust’s Weave project, and housing service Nacro.
Edward Wakefield, chairman of Virgin Money Foundation, said:
“The Foundation has been set up to help people deliver real, sustainable change in the communities that need it most. We received high-quality applications from a wide range of good causes throughout the region. We look forward to working with the beneficiaries to help them deliver the best possible results from this investment.”
Virgin Money Foundation recently also announced that it will support the first OnSide Youth Zone in Sunderland with financial backing of £850,000. The Youth Zone will provide a state-of-the-art facility for young people to increase their aspirations and prospects, and improve the health and wellbeing of young people in the city.
Information on future funding and the timing of the next round of grant applications will be announced during the early part of 2016.
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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.