The gift of giving – Essex Life Interview
21st December 2022
Republished with permission from Essex Life.
Caroline Taylor, CEO of Essex Community Foundation, tells us about the charitable fund’s incredible work, from when it was launched by the owners of Trebor confectionary to how it’s helping residents with the challenges of Christmas during a cost-of-living crisis.
Essex Community Foundation (ECF), a charitable fund giving away millions of pounds to local charities, was born out of the passion and vision of Ian and Angela Marks. An Essex family, the Marks were owners of Trebor confectionary, which was based in Colchester from 1980. Following the sale of the company to Cadbury, they were able to establish ECF in 1996 as a way in which people could work together, through the foundation, to commit to long-term support for their community.
‘They have always been a generous family, and Trebor was a very forward-thinking company,’ Caroline says. After they sold their business to Cadbury, they devoted much of their time to philanthropy. I know that term can be problematic, but for us and Ian and Angela it is about connecting, engaging and giving back. It was not about simply making one-off donations, but using their experience to develop new ideas for charities and for long-term sustainable social change. Sadly, Ian died in 2018, but Angela is still very much involved.’
At the foundation, they find that most people are incredibly generous with whatever resources they have. Caroline says, ‘If ever you have a bad day, the best thing to do is visit one of our charities or read one of the grant assessments because it’s inspiring to see how many people are doing things for their community.’
Caroline tells me about when Ian and Angela first set up the foundation – they gathered the High Sheriff of Essex, the chair of the council, the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, the chief constable and other influential people and made them all stand in a circle and hold hands to create a bond between them. ‘That’s just who Ian was,’ Caroline says. ‘He was a visionary and we know that he would be very proud of what we have achieved.’
And what achievements they are. Since 1996, it has given away tens of millions of pounds in grants. ‘These are mostly small grants to small organisations – behind which are countless dedicated people who are working quietly in our communities.’
Charities can apply online for funding at any time and the ECF team are proactive in going out to organisations and seeing how they can help. ‘As grant-makers, we work in partnership with our charities,’ Caroline explains. ‘We have to give our money away – that’s what we exist to do!’
Caroline lives on the coast just outside Colchester, and her background is in TV production. In the early noughties, she took on a temporary position as an events manager for the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and it was their campaign work that inspired her to stay in the charity sector. She started in the grants team of the ECF in 2005 and worked her way up.
‘It’s people that inspire me in my job – the hundreds of volunteers and staff who go above and beyond for others. It was so evident throughout Covid, when charities were right there ready to respond. Within days of the first lockdown, they had organised themselves to get food, medicine, etc. to vulnerable people. They set a pace that we followed, and we had grant funding going out within days.’
With Christmas just around the corner, and a cost-of-living crisis affecting the whole country, our charities will step it up again this festive period. And the ECF will be there to support them. ‘There’s always someone on our present list who has everything,’ Caroline says. ‘Why not give the gift of giving and make a charitable donation in their name? So many of our donors say how joyful giving is.’
ECF staff have a team fund, into which everyone makes a financial contribution each month. At Christmas, they give this to a charity in Essex to pay for a team celebration. ‘Charities work so hard and it often goes unrewarded. So, from our team to theirs, we want to treat them to something special,’ Caroline says.
But it’s the people that charities help that really drive her. ‘I met a young lad on a visit to Chelmsford Young Offenders Institution. It was his fifth time in there – petty stuff, really, mostly non-payment of bills. He had lived in the care system all his life and simply didn’t know how to manage his money or his life – he was so dependent on the system. It’s issues like this that make me love my job, because I know we can help.
‘Since the foundation began, we have given £47 million in grants to around 8,000 organisations. When you consider that the average grant size is around £7,000, you realise that there are tens of thousands of people’s stories behind those grants. There are an estimated 10,000 charities in Essex, from small local groups such as Autumn Leaves, a club offering companionship and entertainment for older people, to county-wide organisations like Essex Boys & Girls Clubs, who help young people realise their potential.
‘Next year is going to be tough, because charities have gone through such a hard time during Covid, with huge increases in demand and falling income because so many fundraising activities had to stop. Now, we have a cost-of-living crisis and charities are concerned as to how they will cope with rising costs.
‘We need to respond quickly, and already in the last three months we have given more than £1million in grants. However, we could easily give more, which is why we work hard to encourage more people to give back to Essex. We are all about local communities, and we want to generate as much money as we can for them.
‘We have been incredibly lucky that a local family has just given us lovely new office premises in Chelmsford rent-free for the next 25 years. We have already started to share the space with other charities and we want to do more of this next year.’
Get Involved
Whether you’re a local charity or a resident or business wanting to make a donation, we would love to hear from you. Call us on 01245 355947 or e-mail hello@essexcf.org.uk.