Grassroots groups working in Surrey will get much-needed grants worth over £57,000 to help support local women and girls facing a range of challenges.
8 projects will receive grants of between £5,000 – £10,000. This is the second time the Community Foundation for Surrey has awarded groups money from the Tampon Tax Community Fund to help women and girls experiencing issues such as period poverty, domestic and sexual abuse and mental health.
Collectively as a network, UK Community Foundations is one of the UK’s largest grant-makers and was asked by the government to distribute the largest share of the funding raised through the levy on sanitary products through its network of community foundations. A total of £6.9 million has been awarded nationally to grassroots groups in the two rounds of funding.
Kate Peters, Director of Grants & Impact at the Community Foundation for Surrey said:
“This funding supports the groups on the ground who are making a huge difference to the lives of women and girls. We know there is huge demand out there for these services and are proud to help small organisations working in our community to access vital public funding, which otherwise they may miss out on.”
Projects being funded in Surrey are:
- Home-Start Waverley – supporting mothers with young children in single-parent households to gain confidence and build resilience
- Be Me Project – delivering courses in schools, doctor’s surgeries and local children’s centres to promote well-being and positive mental health for vulnerable girls
- GASP Motor Project – delivering female motor courses for girls with special educational needs who are pre-NEET or young offenders, enabling them to gain skills which will be useful in future employment
- Elmbridge Rent-Start – to house 30 vulnerable women in safe and appropriate single-sex housing, as well as delivering weekly women-only skills and social workshops to build confidence and expertise
- Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum – funding for a part-time Facilitator to support and oversee confidence building sessions to bring vulnerable Asian women together
- Citizens Advice Elmbridge West – delivering a Skills for Change Course, helping domestic abuse survivors back to work or towards vocational retraining schemes
- Spelthorne Breastfeeding Friends – to recruit and train staff to deliver numerous support classes for women and their new-borns, improving mother and baby health and development
- Emmaus Transformation Trust – for the continuation of their Nurture Project, supporting women experiencing crisis, offering courses helping to increase confidence, self-esteem and resilience
Previously in 2018/19, the Tampon Tax Community Fund, via the Community Foundation for Surrey, was hugely oversubscribed meaning almost a third of the organisations that applied for funding remained unsupported. Since then, the Foundation has received some donations to help support these vital projects positively impacting on Surrey communities. However, there are many that are still in need of help. The Foundation urge anyone interested in donating to get in touch!
The Government’s Tampon Tax Fund allocates funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to go into projects set up to improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls.
In 2018/19 the Community Foundation network distributed more than £98 million worth of grants and supported more than 5,641 people and 15,526 organisations.
