Welcome

to Essex Community Foundation

We provide grants to charities and voluntary organisations in Essex.

We do this by working with individuals, families, businesses and charitable trusts, helping them to find and fund local groups that are tackling the issues they care about most.

Last year, we gave out £4.4 million.

Find out what we support here

News

Making a difference in your community

Tendring

Harwich Hive reported that 24% of children in Harwich and North Essex (not including Clacton or Colchester) live in poverty. They run a baby and hygiene bank in Harwich to help local parents to cope.
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Colchester

Abberton Rural Training told us that domestic abuse accounts for 35.6% of all violent crime in Essex, which is why they offer womens-only rural skills training to upskill survivors of domestic abuse so they can find employment and build confidence.
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Braintree

Daws Hall Trust manages the Centre for Environmental Education at the Daws Hall Nature Reserve and each year over 1,700 children and young people visit the site.
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Uttlesford

Saffron Hall Trust tell us that dementia cases are rapidly on the rise with an 81% increase in cases predicted by 2040. To help people, they run to support three music therapy groups for people living with dementia and their loved ones/carers.
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Harlow

People with a learning disability are particularly vulnerable to social isolation. Bishops Stortford Mencap helps them to make friends and learn life skills that help them to be indepdent and to stay safe.
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Chelmsford

Action for Family Carers and has a full caseload (currently 30+ families). They provide information and advice to the whole family and young carers who are experiencing healthcare, housing and well-being related issues.
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Maldon

Research evidence links loneliness and social isolation to poor mental health, cognitive decline as well as impacting physical health. Burnham Community Allotment started offering a green space to give people something positive to do where they can grow healthy food and make friends.
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Epping Forest

NHS waiting times can often be up to one year for mental health support. Affordable Counselling Epping Forest provides low cost counselling sessions to adults in the Epping Forest District
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Brentwood

Blind and Sight Impaired Society tells us that there 12,000 people living with sight loss in the area served by the hospital (RNIB Sight loss data tool) with this number set to increase by 30% in the next 20 years.
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Basildon

Bobbys Big Heart supports up to 85 families a week with food parcels (across Basildon, Castlepoint and Southend).
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Rochford

Last year South Essex Community Hub supported 5,058 people through their Community Hub, with 63% of users living in areas of high deprivation. They run a wide range of services including a youth hub, free fitness sessions, English language classes and coffee afternoons for people suffering with poor mental health.
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Thurrock

Re Engage tell us that 10% of the population aged over 65 is lonely all or most of the time. Their social meet-ups and befriender phone calls help to stop this.
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Southend

Southend Foodbank shared that according to Southend City Council, the amount of children living in poverty is 20.6%, compared to 15.4% in the rest of Essex. The cost-of-living crisis has led to a 'widening in inequalities' for a full fifth of all children in the city. This worrying trend aligns with the foodbank distribution centres, which fed more people January-July 2023, than they did in the whole of 2021.
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Castle Point

Bobbys Big Heart was set up in 2017 to help provide food and household goods for Christmas. The group has grown since then from helping a handful of people requiring the support, to up to 85 families each week.
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Thank you to our supporters

Grants awarded this year

£2,100,000

Total grants paid 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 was £4,427,366.

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