We have just completed our most recent round of funding – addressing our Wellbeing theme.
It has been an extraordinary round. We received 119 applications requesting a total value of £774,000, the most for a single round of donor fund applications we have ever seen, reflecting the level of need in the community.
We are delighted to announce that our donor funds have awarded £383,376 to 64 groups.
Funded through the generous contribution of our donor funds, the Foundation’s Wellbeing theme supports:
- Mental ill-health – supporting people to cope with and manage mental health issues and enable early intervention.
- Addiction – Support people with drug, alcohol, and substance abuse-related issues.
- Caring responsibilities – supporting people caring for others.
- Reducing loneliness – provide older people with opportunities to access and participate in their local community to prevent isolation.
- Supporting recovery – supporting therapy, advice, counselling, and practical help to aid recovery and improve lives.
- Supporting families and parenting.
- Addressing physical ill-health and disability.
- Active lifestyles – promoting the benefits of healthy living and eating. Helping to counter obesity, preventable diseases, and mental ill-health.
- Domestic abuse – supporting people experiencing domestic abuse by providing advice, practical help and/or temporary accommodation.
Not surprisingly in a round focused on Wellbeing, Mental health and isolation and loneliness featured as key issues and there was a broad spread of beneficiaries supported by the grants.
Sadly 29 projects we assessed and considered to be good were unfunded.
Other funding news
During this period, we have also been working on applications to our Strategic Transformation Programme. This programme is rolling, and we respond to applications as they are received. To date four projects have been funded with £35k.
Our Winter Poverty Fund has also awarded £37,725
We are already working on our latest batch of applications to our Equity and Inclusion round. We have received a more manageable 68 applications and look forward to sharing suitable applications with our donors.
Feedback from grant recipients for the Wellbeing round
We have received some fantastic feedback from our grant recipients. Here are a few of their comments (click on the organisation name to visit their website):
– Be Me Project helps build positive mental wellbeing and confidence in life. They deliver their mental wellbeing sessions in a number of secondary schools, but we also offer the courses to ladies within the community, receive referrals from GP surgeries and work in hostels in Surrey and Brighton.
“Be Me encouraged me to come to school, because I struggled – and now I come in because of Be Me”.
A 14 year student with low school attendance because of anxiety
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Camberley and District Men’s Shed
– Men’s sheds are community spaces for men to connect, converse and create. The activities are often similar to those of garden sheds, but for groups of men to enjoy together. They help reduce loneliness and isolation, but most importantly, they’re fun.
“The treasurer of the upcoming Camberley & District Men’s Shed, Paul Cronin, was delighted to receive £4,000 from the Community Foundation for Surrey. They have also been granted the pictured cricket pavilion by Surrey Heath Borough Council as the home for their Shed which has been unoccupied for 10 years, so needs a lot of work to make it suitable for occupation. The money from CFS will greatly contribute to the cost of works needed so they can open and make a difference to the people in their community who are looking for companionship and an improved sense of purpose.”
Paul Cronin, Trustee & Treasurer, Camberley and District Men’s Shed
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– Challengers is a charity that gives disabled children and young people the opportunity to play, have fun, and make friends in a safe and supportive environment.
“We are incredibly grateful to Green Shoots Fund and Community Foundation for Surrey for a generous grant to help cover salaries of our Internal Trainers. Many of our young, disabled beneficiaries have special needs and our Trainers are essential in training our Play and Youthworkers, so that everyone can have fun safely.”
Joanna McCaffrey, Trust Fundraising Officer, Challengers
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– Cook4care is a local community charity of volunteer cooks and drivers, who support young carers and their families by providing nutritious home cooked meals.
“The funding that Cook4care has received is essential in helping us to cook for our young carers in Surrey and their families. By freeing up time to enjoy with friends, family and on schoolwork, we have a positive impact on the mental and physical wellbeing of our young carers.“
Davina Davie and Maria Corry – founder trustees, Cook4care.
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Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
– We help children under 5 with cerebral palsyand other motor learning impairments make the best possible start in life – and give families the support and skills to continue their development at home.
“Conductive Education (CE) is learning for life. Purposeful, enabling, and dynamic for children with neurological movement disorders. Seeking to harness potential and improve functional ability and life skills. The benefit of CE is that children learn how to be independent. Sessions allow a child to develop routines and engage in education and hobbies.”
Glenys Creese, Executive Manager, Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
– Information, advice and guidance to help support bereaved children and young people and those facing the death of a loved one; supporting families across Surrey, parts of West Sussex, Kent and surrounding areas.
“We are thrilled to have received a generous £5,000 grant from Charles Russell Speechlys Community Fund through the Community Foundation for Surrey. This support will help us to make a real and lasting difference to the lives of bereaved children and young people living in Surrey, thank you.”
Janice Hoad, Grants Manager, Jigsaw (South East)
– LinkAble is a charity that supports children and adults with learning disabilities in Woking and Surrey Heath, offering people activities and experiences they may struggle to access, supporting them to learn new skills, form lasting friendships and lead fulfilling, independent lives.
“We have repeatedly seen that with the right support, adults with learning disabilities can live more independent lives with meaning and opportunity.
The ongoing support received from Community Fund Surrey will ensure the delivery of Lifeskills Plus, a LinkAble programme providing adults with learning disabilities opportunities to develop essential independent living skills”.
Jamie Evans, Head of Services, LinkAble
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– Oasis provides vital support to vulnerable families and children in Elmbridge and the surrounding areas.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have received a grant towards the provision of our Freedom Programme for survivors of domestic abuse and our Adult Emotional Wellbeing Programme. These two courses are vital to our clients’ recovery in the aftermath of abuse, providing the foundation of support and friendship, independence and resilience, to rebuild their lives.”
Caroline Edwards, Founder & Director of Services, Oasis Childcare Centre
– Sight for Surrey is an ambitious charity offering a lifetime of support for people who are blind or partially sighted, Deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing.
“The Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) service we provide in hospitals across Surrey is entirely funded by Sight for Surrey from voluntary donations so this grant from Community Foundation for Surrey, Carrington Family Trust Grants Fund, is vitally important. Our ECLO’s provide much needed information, advice and emotional support to anyone diagnosed with a vision impairment, signposting and referring them to services that can help them continue to live their life as independently as possible.”
Justine Jasper, Lead Eye Clinic Liaison Officer, Sight for Surrey
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– Viewpoint Centre CIO is a registered charity that has been fully endorsed to run courses in Surrey developed by TheHorseCourse. TheHorseCourse is a registered charity founded by Harriet Laurie in Dorset in 2011 as an equine assisted behavioural change programme . Originally, delivered in prisons but now in the wider community throughout the UK. Its charitable purpose is to reduce social exclusion through horse-assisted interventions.
“The pandemic has heightened existing challenges and disadvantages and created new challenges and risks to deal with for highly vulnerable young people. We have seen a rise in referrals as a results of pandemic-related isolation, increased social and health anxiety, pressure on family relationships, increased exposure to harm, household poverty and living conditions, reduced access to education and activities, risks to physical wellbeing and lack of hope/concern for the future. This funding will help us deliver our fundamental role supporting young people and their families to rebuild and restart.”
Katie Dockery, Founder, Viewpoint Centre
– Wishing Well Music for Health provides live interactive Music for Wellbeing in healthcare settings. They work in partnership with NHS trusts across Sussex and Surrey, bringing live music interactions into hospitals and hospices – working closely with healthcare staff to make sure that our approach is right for each individual person.
“This new grant enables us to bring the joy of music making right to the bedsides of older patients at East Surrey Hospital. We’ll be singing songs and making music together, creating a space for older people to share their life stories, memories and talents. We can’t wait to get started!”
Jo White, Founder and CEO, Wishing Well Music for Health
For more information, please contact our Grants Team at email: grants@cfsurrey.org.uk
