We are pleased that we could support 54 local organisations in our most recent round with providing £360,164 in grant funding.

The round included the Woking Council Community Fund. This is the first time we have managed the Community Grants Programme for the borough council. The Fund awarded £144,694 to 21 groups. Our family of Donors awarded a further £21,000 picking up 3 applications which could not be funded by Woking and topping up another application which had been partially funded by Woking.

We are still seeing a huge level of demand for projects addressing health and wellbeing in all its forms, 47% of awards went to address this issue including isolation and loneliness and mental health. The impact of the cost of living crisis is being felt not only in practical difficulties but in the knock-on effect on mental wellbeing as communities cope with these challenges

A few quotes from some of the groups funded in this round:

Guildford Shakespeare Company

 GSC are thrilled to be awarded this grant. By linking primary school children with a care home, participants share their experiences and stories, as they convert Shakespeare’s words into their own. The age-gap complements each group through companionship and respite, combined with a real desire to listen and engage – principles that both ages readily offer and accept.
KERRIE DRISCOLL, GSC Creative Learning Producer

The Mary Frances Trust

We are delighted to have received this vital funding from The Gatwick Foundation Fund via The Community Foundation for Surrey.  The funding will give an opportunity for asylum seekers to learn some basic English, alongside this we will be providing them with some emotional wellbeing support.
Christine Schauerman, Programme Manager, Mary Frances Trust.

St Catherine’s Hospice

We are incredibly grateful to the Community Foundation for Surrey for working with their donors to support St Catherine’s Community Clinical Nurse Specialists with a £7,000 donation. This support will help people facing the end of their life in East Surrey, spend their final days in the comfort and familiarity of home – pain free, dignified, and comfortable. And this hospice care will extend to their loved ones helping them to feel supported, reassured, and better able to cope with the demands of caring for the person they love.
Laura Kelly, Head of Partnerships at St Catherine’s

Canalside Community Fridge

The fridge is has a visibly positive effect on everyone who uses it. It has been fulfilling its explicit objective of using surplus from Woking’s stores, but it is also alleviating food poverty in the town, for example, supplying local schools with items for breakfast clubs; combatting loneliness and encouraging the community to come together through volunteering and using the fridge. As one person said “it is a stigma free place and I enjoy being here.
Gerry Mitchell, Co-Director

Us in a Bus

You only need to hear some of the stories of connection and interaction with the people we support from the practitioners as they return to the office at the end of each day to know what a difference this grant will continue to make.
Victoria Goody C.E.O

Look Good Feel Better

We are absolutely delighted to have received funding for 12 of our face-to-face workshops for women with cancer at our Guildford and Redhill venues, helping them to face their cancer with confidence, to make friends, and most of all to Look Good and Feel Better.
Ian Daniels, Director of Fundraising

Intergenerational Music Making

IMM are thankful for the support we have received from Community Foundation for Surrey in helping us to continue the intergenerational work we are currently delivering to tackle loneliness and isolating whilst improving the mental health and wellbeing  for all generations.
Charlotte Miller, Founder and Director of IMM

Surrey charities and community groups were celebrating this month as we announced the recipients of £35,000 from round one of the 2023 Gatwick Foundation Fund – the first awarded since the fund was paused as a result of the pandemic in 2020.

Six outstanding organisations benefited from a financial boost:

• Amber Foundation – Funding towards employment readiness training for young people who have experienced homelessness and/or addiction.
• Guildford Shakespeare Company – An intergenerational project that enhances people’s mental health through drama by an organisation based in Guildford.
• Home-Start Epsom, Ewell & Banstead (HSEEB) – support group for parents. Funding for a support group and services for mothers with young children who are experiencing difficulties.
• Mary Frances Trust – Funding for regular English lessons for asylum seekers together with monthly group support sessions.
• Mid-Surrey Community Fridges – Funding toward the staff costs of a food delivery service to the isolated and elderly living in Mole Valley by a community fridge.
• YMCA East Surrey – Funding towards the expansion of a project supporting young people with disabilities to develop life skills and support for employment.

Christine Schauerman, Programme Manager, Mary Francis Trust said:

We are delighted to have received this vital funding from The Gatwick Foundation Fund via The Community Foundation for Surrey. The funding will give an opportunity for asylum seekers to learn some basic English, alongside this we will be providing them with some emotional wellbeing support.

Guildford Shakespeare

The Gatwick Foundation Fund has granted Guildford Shakespeare Company £5,000 to continue their intergenerational programme ‘Spirit of Youth’. Since 2018, ‘Spirit of Youth’ has sought to address social isolation in the elderly by bringing together care-home residents with children from less-advantaged primary schools, exploring Shakespeare’s plays and using drama to learn from each other.

Kerrie Driscoll, GSC Creative Learning Producer said:

GSC are thrilled to be awarded this grant. By linking primary school children with a care home, participants share their experiences and stories, as they convert Shakespeare’s words into their own. The age-gap complements each group through companionship and respite, combined with a real desire to listen and engage – principles that both ages readily offer and accept.

Each course is led by professional drama facilitators from GSC in consultation with school and care-home staff.

The funding from Gatwick Foundation Fund will enable GSC to launch the next ten-week course. Once a week in a safe and a risk-free environment, the children and adults will work together to create a 15-20 minute version of a Shakespeare play, which is then performed to family, friends and the wider community.

One of the relatives of a participants said:

It was so good to see the young children working alongside the residents. Although my mother has difficulty in remembering sometimes, she found it good to have something to work towards.

Gatwick’s Fund was originally launched in 2016 and to date has awarded over £1.2M, in more than 230 grants, benefitting over 100,000 people across Surrey, Sussex and Kent. For Surrey organisations it supports projects in Tandridge, Reigate & Banstead and Mole Valley and each year there are three rounds of grants, totalling £100,000. The community Foundation for Surrey works in partnership with the Community Foundations of Kent & Sussex to support the Fund.

The Gatwick Foundation Fund was set up specifically to support work to fight social isolation and tackle disadvantage, raise aspirations and develop skills, improve health and wellbeing, and support children and young people. See here for more information on the fund criteria.

Click here to apply for funding.

Click here if you are a local business who wishes to talk to us about setting up your own Corporate Fund.

In our latest round of grant funding we have awarded £166,056 to 24 voluntary and community groups of which £144,694 was awarded from the Woking Borough Council Community Fund.

The purpose of the partnership between Woking Borough Council and the Community Foundation for Surrey is to deliver voluntary grants in Woking in the most effective way possible in order to:

• Leverage funding from other community foundation donors and provide a single front door for applicants to over 80 different funds.
• Maximise the impact of the grants by applying Community Foundation due diligence to ensure the funded organisations are well run and governed.
• Ensure projects supporting those in the highest need in Working are prioritised for funding.
• Ensure projects funded address the strategic priorities of Woking Borough Council.

The Woking Borough Council Community Fund Panel, consisting of Trustees of the Community Foundation, volunteers from the local community, and representatives of Woking Borough Council, met on 4^th April and reviewed applications totalling over £250,000 from a wide range of groups awarding a total of 21 grants totalling £144.694 (full list below). The Fund Panel made their decisions by reviewing grant applications against the fund criteria (see below).

This collaborative approach has been more efficient in enabling community groups to apply for funding through one single expression of interest, without the need for multiple applications. All those who applied in this round were also reviewed against the other 80+ funds that CFSurrey manages.

I am delighted Woking Borough Council’s partnership with CFS has been such a success and supported our vital voluntary and community groups. Volunteers and community group are the heart and soul of our Borough. It has been great to meet so many of them to see first-hand the work they do on the ground.

Woking Borough Council’s Deputy Leader & Portfolio Holder for the Voluntary Sector, Cllr Will Forster

On top of the partnership with CFS, the council have directly commissioned some charities that provide an essential service to local people. By providing groups such as Citizen’s Advice Woking, Woking Community Transport, Woking Asian Business Forum, Woking People of Faith and the York Road Project with a service-level agreement, those charities will benefit from secure funding.

Woking Council Community Fund – funding Criteria

Eligibility

• The Community Foundation for Surrey Eligibility criteria apply https://www.cfsurrey.org.uk/guidance/
• Organisations benefitting residents of Woking Borough will be eligible to apply.

What we will fund – our strategic priorities

Healthier Communities

• E.g. projects which support improving health outcomes in our communities in particular addressing health inequalities in our borough (Priorities: Mental Health, Living independently, carers, isolation and loneliness, obesity)
• E.g. projects that encourage and increase active lifestyles and participation through the provision of varied cultural and sporting opportunities and amenities
• E.g. projects supporting safer communities
• E.g. projects to provide early support to improve residents health and wellbeing, or support residents to be more proactive about their health.
• E.g. Support improved engagement in active lifestyles, in particular by under-represented groups/ages

Engaged Communities

• E.g. projects which support the ability of communities to develop solutions to local needs and support those most disadvantaged in our communities
• E.g. projects supporting older, vulnerable and disabled people in our community
• E.g. projects supporting engagement in areas of the borough highlighted by the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, particularly with children, younger people and older people.

Greener Communities

• E.g. projects which support access to green space for members of the community who wouldn’t normally be able to access.
• E.g. projects which support the Borough in tackling climate change, noting the Council’s target of the Borough becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Prospering Communities

• E.g. projects which support our communities to improve skills and raise aspirations
• E.g. projects which improve signposting of career opportunities to those seeking employment and training

What this fund will not support:

• Large Capital projects such as buildings or purchase of vehicles
• Projects with beneficiaries not resident in Woking (if you work benefits a wider area, please tell us what percentage of your beneficiaries are resident in Woking)

Size of Grants

• The level of funding offered would normally be up to £10k for 1 year in the first instance, although this could vary depending on the grant award currently being received from the Council, the level of service provided in the Borough and any exceptional circumstance.

Grants Funded

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any charitable organisation and here at the Community Foundation for Surrey is no exception. We are incredibly lucky to have some amazing volunteers who give their time and expertise to help us support our grant seekers who are working so hard to support those in need in Surrey. We have a range of people who volunteer here at CFSurrey, from our Trustees to our wonderful professionals in Funder Plus.

Our Funder Plus programme provides highly skilled and experienced volunteers to support grant seekers with advice and guidance in a range of crucial business areas, ranging from accounts to business plans.

These dedicated volunteers freely give their time, skills and experience to our grant seekers in need of some extra support, working with them on short term projects to improve their chances of being “funder ready” for future applications they may make to grant makers. The Funder Plus team work with a wide range of third sector organisations, both large and small, registered and unincorporated and they do this because they, like everyone here at CFSurrey, want to help those that are helping those in Surrey that are most in need.  

The third sector, and those they work with, has been hit especially hard by the pandemic and the recent cost of living crisis; and now more than ever needs and deserves all the support it can get. That is why we wanted to take the opportunity this week, Volunteers Week, to say a huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers, especially those at Funder Plus, who give so much of their own time and skills to freely support our grant seekers.

This quote is from a fantastic organisation, Be Me Project. They recently received some input from Funder Plus and this is what they had to say:-

Be Me Project is extremely grateful for providing us with Funder Plus support. We had approximately 8 sessions over three months with a consultant, who also did some work for us in between sessions. We were able to talk through a number of aspects of the charity and how it is/could approach its expansion plans, looking at project management, risk analysis and accounting/budgeting. Creating a simple project management tool in Excel for us has been particularly helpful, as it has given us a tool to plan and to assess our progress throughout the year. However, perhaps the most positive thing was knowing that CFS understands the challenges small charities face, and that they are investing in us by providing tools to help us be successful and sustainable. Thank you very much.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you feel your organisation would benefit from some tailored support from Funder Plus, or indeed if you would like to become a volunteer. We are always on the lookout for dedicated people who want to join our team and we really couldn’t provide this support to groups without our lovely, committed volunteers.

Click through to our Funder Plus page to find out more.

Supporting our local community with vital funding and making Surrey a better place for everyone

• Annual membership of £500 – half of which is awarded to current projects & half towards the work of the charity
• Membership pack: Introduction to the Community Foundation to Surrey, Fast facts report about the issues facing disadvantaged people in our county, email Bulletins and funding literature.
• Invitation to exclusive annual ‘Friend’ event
• Quarterly updates on the impact of your donation

To become a Friend of Surrey

Please contact our Development Managers, Zoe or Amy:

Tel: 01483 478092

Email: giving@cfsurrey.org.uk

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More about the Community Foundation for Surrey 

We are proud to fund hundreds of vital community groups across Surrey every year. And in 2021-2022, our grants totalled more than £2.7 million. We work in partnership with our donors to fund a range of needs and themes, including helping to alleviate winter poverty. Discover more

The current economic crisis has hit us all, but more so disadvantaged people in our county. We have been working hard to get vital funding out as quickly as possible over the winter period to those groups who are supporting the most vulnerable in our communities.

Our fundraising campaign has been a big success and thanks to your generous contributions and match-funding from Surrey County Council, we have raised £200,000 which has been disseminated in grants.

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The projects that your donations are supporting

A total of £206,996 has been awarded to 34 projects. The average grant size was £6,088 and we were pleased that many donors were able to collaborate, meaning that more projects were fully funded. In total there are more than 14,000 direct beneficiaries of the services that we have supported.

There was a wide range of projects reflecting the often-complex aspects of winter poverty, with many overlapping areas:

Some of the organisations where your donations are helping

Your donations support food banks, warm hubs, baby banks, elderly people, housing challenges, employment support, charities providing debt and energy advice, and other essential service providers. Here are some of the organisations that we are supporting.

Stripey Stork

Stripey Stork, a Surrey baby bank, collects donations of clothes, toys and essential items for babies and children and rehomes them with local families experiencing hardship.

“Stripey Stork appreciates the opportunity to put a Winter Poverty grant to good use for the benefit of Surrey families this winter. We provide practical support to families with children aged 0-16 years across Surrey and it is clear from the requests for help that the cost-of-living crisis is hitting hard. We have seen an increase in requests for warm clothes and blankets, and from families who have never had to access a service like ours before. The grant will allow us to resource more volunteer sessions in our warehouse and ensure we can fulfil requests promptly and with the care and quality that our partners have come to depend on.”

Nicola Dawes, Chief Executive

Watch video

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Runnymede DraughtBusters

A team of experienced volunteers who help people with draughty homes struggling with their energy bills – covering Egham, Englefield Green, and Pooley Green.

“This grant will allow our volunteers to visit homes of people struggling to stay warm, and take simple steps to keep out draughts – saving them money, reduce their energy consumption and improve their quality of life”.

Chris Gray, Director, Runnymede DraughtBusters

Watch video of Runnymede DraughtBusters Volunteer

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And many more projects:

Voices of Hope – BRITE Box

“The grant will help us to reach the increasing number of families at risk of food insecurity and help resource them to eat more healthily together on a budget and establish positive healthy cooking habits. Through BRITE Box, a larger number of families will have access to healthy and nutritious food, thus reducing food insecurity locally. The family will be able to cook new healthy recipes which are all replicable on a low budget. Having families in the programme for a year helps develop long term healthy cooking and eating habits, impacting the whole family unit.”

Nick Dawson, BRITE Box Project Lead

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Camberley BESOM

“We are so grateful for the grant from the Community Foundation for Surrey, as every penny will go towards providing food for the poorest in our community. This year more than ever we are seeing the impact of the increase of home energy costs, plus the rise in general cost of living.  We are seeing families who have never before needed to use a food bank seeking our help.  Although we receive a large number of ambient food donations from Churches, Schools & Shoppers (at four supermarkets), we still need to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables, fresh and cooked meat, eggs, bread & spread, in order to provide a full balanced diet for our recipients. Thank You!”

Karen Kendall, Project Lead, Besom in Camberley

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Leatherhead Community Hub

“A huge thank you from everyone at Leatherhead Community Hub for the funding towards our events programme and community café. We are delighted that we can run ‘family feasts’ (a free 2 course meal once a month) and ‘community movies’ (free film night once a month with free drinks, snacks and buffet food) until at least Spring 2024. It is also fantastic to know that we are now able to keep our café prices affordable during the day… We fully understand that poverty can be extremely isolating so this project will help reduce feelings of loneliness and allow local people, particularly families who really struggle to find inexpensive activities to do together, to feel part of the community and draw strength from it.”

Jenny Moore, Trustee and Co-Founder, Leatherhead Community Hub

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Home-Start Waverley

“This grant is vital in helping us provide immediate support to vulnerable families. The cost-of-living crisis has had a substantial impact on many of the families that Home-Start in Waverley supports. The cost of basic food and baby items has risen sharply and increased energy prices have made many afraid to turn on their heating. For the families we support who are already facing challenging circumstances, these additional adversities are having a devastating impact on health and wellbeing.”

Dawn Murphy – Scheme Manger, Home Start Waverley

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Farnham Christian Community Trust

“This grant enables us to help people in the Farnham area who are struggling with money worries, particularly during this cost of living crisis. We are able to help them address benefits, budgeting and debt issues, and let them see that there is life after debt.”

David McNeight, Frontline Farnham Money Advice Manager & Client Adviser (Farnham Christian Community Trust)

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Rentstart – Academy

“Rentstart are delighted to be able to increase the impact of our daily academy: offering individual and group sessions assisting with employment, finances, social isolation, and more; targeting specific client needs to take people from homelessness to thriving independence.”

Helen Watson, Chief Executive

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Citizens Advice Surrey Heath

“At Citizens Advice we are seeing unprecedented demand for help with the rising cost of living and managing debt, up around 44% on the previous year. Funding from the Winter Poverty Fund means we can increase our Supervisory capacity to enable our Advisers and Caseworkers to support more clients in getting the help they need – giving the right advice at the right time to address their issues and prevent these spiralling out of control.”

Kate Sawdy, CEO, Citizens Advice Surrey Heath

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You can still donate

We are keeping the Winter Poverty Campaign donation page open until 31st March and any donation of any size is really welcome. With Surrey County Council supporting the campaign, your donation doubles. And if you add Gift Aid, your donation grows even more.

Donate now (click on this link)

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More about the Community Foundation for Surrey 

We are proud to fund hundreds of vital community groups across Surrey every year. And in 2021-2022, our grants totalled more than £2.7 million. We work in partnership with our donors to fund a range of needs and themes, including helping to alleviate winter poverty. Discover more

This week marks the start of the war in Ukraine, an ongoing conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.

Many Ukrainians are now living in a safe place in a different country, but all the time are thinking about their family members, who may still be living in Ukraine where life is often unimaginably difficult. At the same time moving to a new country can be challenging and it is vital that we help these displaced people in their time of need.

The Community Foundation for Surrey is heartened to see so many Surrey residents opening their homes, and hearts, to our Ukrainian guests. Working with the Freemasons’ Charity as part of a national programme, we’re pleased to be able to provide grant funding to help this vital work.

Supporting Ukrainian refugees in Surrey

Working with the Masonic Charitable Foundation Ukrainian Refugee Support Project, we are delighted to confirm that £45,000 has been awarded across the following six organisations in Surrey that are supporting displaced Ukrainian people.

• Creative Response Arts – Arts for Wellbeing
• Epsom & Ewell Refugee Network (Good Company Surrey) – Pathway of Hope
• The Lighthouse (also known as Emmaus Transformation Trust Limited) – Ukrainian Hub
• Elmbridge CAN – Ukrainian Support 2023
• Voluntary Support North Surrey – Ukrainian Support in Runnymede
• St Mary’s Ukrainian School Ltd – Children’s Art and Music workshops

Here are brief details about four of the projects:

Voluntary Support North Surrey

Funding for continued support of displaced Ukrainian refugees in Runnymede, Spelthorne and Surrey Heath via an established Ukrainian Hub. The grant supports regular and structured drop-in sessions at a local venue with services to allow people to access emotional support and help with applying for benefits, workshops on finding employment, access to a Ukrainian translator and informal English lessons.

“We have seen first-hand the need for support that Ukrainian refugees have at our Chertsey drop-in. Over 600 Ukrainian families are expected in North Surrey and this funding will be used to support and develop up to six local drop-ins and increased individual support.”

– Solette Sheppardson, CEO, Voluntary Support North Surrey

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St Mary’s Ukrainian School Ltd

St Mary’s Ukrainian community schools became the shelter and safe place for children and families helping them to recover from loss and other traumatic experiences and reconnect with their peers who share the same language, culture and Ukrainian heritage. St Mary’s Ukrainian School Woking is planning to invite art and music teachers/specialists to teach lessons/run sessions and workshops to 65-80 displaced Ukrainian children aged 8-15 who are currently part of the Woking, Surrey community. Read more

“We sincerely thank you for funding the Art and Music project at Woking St Mary’s Ukrainian Saturday School. Your donation makes a massive difference for Ukrainian displaced children in our community. Thanks to you, Ukrainian kids can attend Saturday school, where they spend quality time with their peers, deepen their knowledge, work as a team on various art projects, and simultaneously form friendships with peers and build trust with teachers.”

– Orysya Novetska, St Mary’s Ukrainian School Ltd

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The Lighthouse

Funding for continued support of a busy Ukrainian Hub offering a range of support and services to displaced Ukrainian people in and around Woking.

The Lighthouse is working with the local council as well as individuals and organisations, providing a hub that helps Ukrainian refugees find signposting help, get connected into their local community, and be able to meet with others in a similar situation.

The Lighthouse is currently supporting around 100 Ukrainian people on a weekly basis. The Ukrainian team offers support throughout the week by phone, email and provides one-to-one support. Help is provided in many areas from school and job applications to community events and socials. Read more

“Thank you so much for funding to help to create a lifeline of support for Ukrainian refugees upon their move to the UK. It makes a massive difference in their ability to find help, opportunity and positive community despite the circumstances.”

– Lucy Greenland, The Lighthouse

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Epsom & Ewell Refugee Network (Good Company Surrey)

Funding for English and Employment support for displaced Ukrainian people in Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, and Reigate & Banstead. Read more

EERN has devised a programme called Pathway of Hope, which is supporting displaced Ukrainian people with support and training for English skills and employment guidance. This will enable people to create their own futures, as they build lives for themselves and their families whilst they are living in Surrey. This project has been created in response to feedback received from the Ukrainian refugees currently being supported. The aims are to enable people to access better employment opportunities and accommodation. The funding will be used to pay for two Ukrainian teachers of English and teaching materials Other teaching support is from volunteers.

“English classes are very important – they are vital. For us, Ukrainians, they are survival lessons. The more lessons we have, the faster we will integrate into society. Thank you for the opportunity the Network is giving us!”

– Natalia (class attendee)

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More about the Freemasons’ charity

The Freemasons’ charity (the Masonic Charitable Foundation) is funded entirely by Freemasons and their families. The charity’s mission is to provide support, care and services to Freemasons and their families in need, and also support other charities to help the most disadvantaged in society. Read more

More about the Masonic Charitable Foundation Ukrainian Refugee Support Project

The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) Ukrainian Refugee Support Project is providing a total donation of £500,000 to UK Community Foundations (UKCF) to support refugee arrivals from Ukraine. The target organisations are local charities and voluntary and community groups that are:

• Preparing support for the arrival of people from Ukraine
• Funding the direct delivery of services for Ukrainian refugees
• Developing longer-term support for the integration of Ukrainian refugees

Read more

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Discover more about applying for a grant with the Community Foundation for Surrey