More than £43,000 in grants awarded to community organisations across Essex

4th February 2022

The region’s largest independent retailer, the East of England Co-op, has awarded £43,978 in grants to 16 organisations supporting the local community in Essex, in the latest round of funding from its Community Cares Fund. The funding is expected to support nearly 20,000 local people.

The East of England Co-op set up the fund in April 2020 in response to the pandemic, and together with this latest round will have donated more than £490,000 to support local communities. The funding is supplemented by East of England Co-op members who contribute through their annual dividend.

Grants were awarded to local voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations that deliver projects supporting community action, food justice or mental health and well-being.

Beneficiaries of the £84,000 awarded across the region this round have ranged from community gardens to counselling services, reaching thousands of people in the community in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.

One of the beneficiaries is Inclusion Ventures, who have received a £4,500 grant to create a new community garden in Jaywick, Essex. The new space will be used by both children and adults to grow fruit and vegetables to help promote healthy eating and encourage appreciation for food.

Project Director, Sarah Hannass, comments: “News of this funding was so welcome in January; what a great start to the year. It will enable us to bring some warmth and nourishment to a variety of activities for our children, families and seniors from our brand new community hub in Jaywick.”

Lawford Church of England Primary School in Tendring has also received £1,500 to replace raised beds that help children’s understanding of gardening and how to produce healthy vegetables. The grant is awarded as the school is projected to double in size over the next 7 years.

Headteacher Abbie Fairbairn commented: “I am so pleased that we will be able to replace the raised beds that were lost through the construction process for our new building.  The opportunity to support children’s wellbeing by gardening and making the links to where our food comes from will be an invaluable part of the support we can give our children for many years to come.”

Niall O’Keeffe, joint chief executive of the East of England Co-op commented: “Our Community Cares Fund is as important as ever to help support our communities through this challenging time. It was an incredibly difficult decision to choose the recipients as we once again had a large number of applications from lots of impactful and inspiring projects. We look forward to seeing all the work come to life and make a genuine difference at a critical time.”

The East of England Co-op works with the Essex Community Foundation to distribute and deliver the Community Cares Fund.

The next round of funding from the East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund is due to open in late Spring.

If you are in need of funding before then, please visit our apply for support page.

To find out how we can help you to support charities and community groups, click here or call Perry Norton on 01245 355947.