Charity begins at home
9th January 2023
Republished with permission from Essex Life.
Over 70% of land in Essex is rural and a quarter of the population lives in rural communities. The positive impact that the countryside and outdoor activities has on mental health is well documented and became more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Essex is fortunate to have many public pathways, including the well-trodden 82 miles of the Essex Way from Epping Station to Harwich Old Lighthouse, as well as 350 miles of coastline. There are also so many historic buildings and gardens that are open to the public for everyone to enjoy. But care is needed to keep these spaces and buildings preserved for future generations to enjoy, and they require funding to undertake restoration works.
At Essex Community Foundation, we manage a number of charitable funds on behalf of our donors whose interest is in the outdoors and maintaining the environment for the benefit of all. One of these is the ‘Bartleet Family Fund’ and we have been pleased to work with the fundholders since 2017 to support charitable projects and activities that meet their interests.
Ann and Anthony Bartleet were ahead of their time with their deep concerns for the natural environment and protecting our heritage for future generations. Their far-sighted interests and practical action for such causes, along with promoting musical events and activities, began several decades ago and continue to this day, through their fund with us.
Historic churches, heritage and maritime centres, outreach programmes involving young people and opera workshops are among the projects that have benefited from grants totalling more than £200,000 distributed through the Fund.
“Essex is a very much underestimated county, but we have the most splendid buildings and wonderful countryside,” said Ann. “I believe that heritage, the environment and the countryside are hugely important to people’s wellbeing, which is why we always supported such causes, even when they were not as popular as they are now.”
She and Anthony brought up their three sons in Essex and had a family trust fund for many years to make annual charitable contributions. In 2017 they made the decision to transfer the management of the fund to ECF. “This has proved to be very satisfactory, said Ann. “ECF give a very personal service, doing the groundwork and the administration for regular giving to both local and national charities. This allows me to respond to local requests for funding in the areas that I am especially interested in.
“Although the fund, quite rightly, concentrates on good causes that have direct community benefits, I like to think that by supporting environmental and cultural initiatives, I can remind everyone just how important the natural world, countryside and historic buildings and all sorts of cultural activities are to us all.”
At her home in Great Tey, Ann is surrounded by the glorious Essex countryside which she has cherished since she came from “over the border” in Hertfordshire to live in the county, at the start of her 54-year marriage to Anthony, a marine underwriter with Lloyds of London, who sadly died in 2019.
Ann says she feels fortunate that she has been able to give a lot of her time to the causes that have inspired her. More than two decades ago was made an MBE for preservation work protecting rural areas. “For many years I was lucky enough to have been able to work as a trustee of environmental charities both nationally and locally, reflecting my interest in the historic built environment and in the natural world,” she said.
“I have been a trustee of the National Trust, vice chairman of CPRE as well as chairman of the local branch here in Essex. My husband set up a building preservation trust here in north-east Essex whose mission is to repair and find new uses for historic buildings in distress.“As well as supporting national wildlife and nature conservation charities such as RSPB, Plantlife and the Woodland Trust, we have always contributed to Essex Wildlife Trust.”
Along with devotion to heritage and the countryside, Ann also has a lifelong love for music, having sung in choirs for 70 years, since she was a schoolgirl.
She said: “Music and the arts always played an important part in our lives, and we have been contributors to charities which support music in cathedrals. My husband was a trustee of a small opera company and we have been contributors to the Art Fund.”
Grants from the Bartleet Family Fund have helped to restore and repair bells and organs in several Essex churches and have also supported music festivals and choirs in the county. Being involved in so many causes and organisations has given Ann a great insight into the power of harnessing people’s interests to ensure that everyone can benefit from healthy and sustainable surroundings.
“It is amazing what communities can do – and there is always plenty to do if you look out for it,” she says. But Ann believes that the word community does not just relate to the people of the county. She feels it is also about preserving and restoring the important structures in our communities, so that people can appreciate their history and beauty now and in the future.
Although she says that advancing years mean restricting her activities to closer to home, Ann relishes her connections with the whole county. Her family fund is helping to fulfil the vision she and husband Anthony had to enhance the environment and help secure the precious heritage of Essex for future generations to enjoy.
ECF can help you to give back to your local community and to the causes you are passionate about. Call us on 01245 355947 or click here.
Our newly published Annual Review and Grants Supplement!
23rd December 2022
We are excited to share our newly published Annual Review and Grants Supplement! Read it here.
This is a round up of our work over the past 12 months and features stories about local groups we have supported, and the new funds set up with us.
Hard copies will be arriving on door mats soon. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to receive a copy of the Review in the post, please e-mail hello@essexcf.org.uk with your address details.
Help the most vulnerable in Essex this winter – Surviving Winter Appeal
21st December 2022
Click here to give now to our Appeal.
Recent grants have been awarded to warm hubs in Harwich and Chelmsford, and for volunteers in Tiptree to buy and distribute heated blankets for local people who are struggling financially.
We are responding to the escalating rise in the cost-of-living and are working closely with groups to best understand their needs. Our ‘Surviving Winter Appeal’ is one opportunity for local people to support vulnerable communities, which is needed now more than ever before.
The Appeal calls on local people to donate what they can to raise vital funds to help older and vulnerable people get through the colder months.
Andy Payne Worpole, head of programmes at ECF, said: “There will be many people in Essex forced to choose between heating and eating this winter, and this will be dangerous for those who are elderly or have health conditions – but you could help them.
“All donations to our Appeal will help provide grants to cover fuel and food costs, support activities to reduce loneliness and isolation, and help those in need to access specialist services and community groups.
“It may be that you receive the Winter Fuel Allowance or the Energy Rebate and don’t need it to pay your own bills, and you could consider donating this.
In previous years, funds from the Appeal have supported winter clothing packs for vulnerable people, lunch clubs that provide a warm and welcoming space for elderly people and homeless charities to provide extra beds during the colder months.
Andy added, “Our Surviving Winter Appeal is a direct way to help people in need in your local community to stay warm, safe and connected with others. Please give whatever you can to help us support as many people as possible.”
- Cheques can also be sent to the Essex Community Foundation offices: 3 Hoffmanns Way, Chelmsford, CM1 1GU. To ask any questions you may have about the Appeal and alternate ways to give to it, please call us on 01245 355947.
- Local charities and community groups in need of funding to support them during this difficult time, including towards core costs (such as rent and salaries) are encouraged to call our grants team on 01245 355947.
The gift of giving – Essex Life Interview
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.
Hearing Help Essex is the 5000th Cranfield Trust project
Cranfield Trust, the UK’s leading provider of pro bono management support and mentoring to social welfare charities has completed its 5000th project with Hearing Help Essex, providing £33million worth of support to the third sector through the pro bono consultancy and mentoring support since it was founded.
Hearing Help Essex CEO, Sophie Ede, approached Cranfield Trust for pro bono support when the charity embarked on an ambitious growth strategy, aiming to double their services. Sophie was matched with Cranfield Trust volunteer, a recently retired HR director, to provide support in managing the planned growth. As a result of the support, Hearing Help Essex is now helping more local people who have acquired hearing loss.
The 5000th project with Hearing Help Essex is one of the projects featured in Cranfield Trust’s Impact Report, which outlines the support the charity has provided to hundreds of charities during the last year.
Amanda Tincknell CBE, Cranfield Trust CEO, comments on the achievement, “We are thrilled to have reached such a significant milestone for Cranfield Trust and proud to have provided pro bono support to thousands of social welfare charities across England, Scotland and Wales over the last 33 years, working with them to sustain their vital services. This is an incredible achievement and is thanks to the dedication, determination and expertise of our volunteers and staff and to our partners and funders who support our work, helping us to help hundreds of charities every year.
“With the challenges charities are facing as a result of the cost of living crisis, our support and the expertise of our volunteers has never been needed more, to help charity leaders strengthen key management skills and through mentoring, to support them personally. To see that the impact of our 5000th completed project has supported Hearing Help Essex to increase its services for beneficiaries feels even more important, when so many people need the support of charities, and charities are struggling to meet increased demands and pressures. We are here to help those charities.”
CEO Sophie Ede summed up the success of the 5000th project and how it has given them the capacity and resilience to support future growth, “Our beneficiaries are already feeling the benefit of this project as we scale up our services to support more people. As a direct result of this project, we have increased our capacity and we are already reaching 36% more individuals than we were this time last year. The support from Cranfield Trust has been invaluable.”
Hearing Help Essex was supported through the successful Thrive Programme, a partnership between Cranfield Trust and Essex Community Foundation to help organisations build capacity and skills in business and leadership. Organisations taking part receive a 12 month leadership development programme, plus bespoke advice and consultancy on a one-to-one basis from Cranfield Trust volunteers, funded by Essex Community Foundation.
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at Essex Community Foundation, said: “This is a really critical time for charities, particularly smaller, grassroots organisations working in the hearts of local communities, like Hearing Help Essex.
“They need support to get through this turbulent time and we are grateful to work in partnership through our Thrive Programme with Cranfield Trust. They care about helping organisations to build capacity, become more effective and sustainable for the future.”
Essex voluntary and community organisations in need of funding are encouraged to call the ECF grants team on 01245 355947 or e-mail grants@essexcf.org.uk. Apply for support here.
The cost-of-living crisis: How we are helping
1st December 2022
Click here to give now to our Appeal.
The cost-of-living crisis is having a profound impact on people’s lives as they struggle to pay their mortgage or rent and buy food, alongside rising energy bills. We also know that low-income households are most affected.
For the voluntary sector, the cost-of-living crisis has worsened an already challenging situation, as many organisations are still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research by the Charities Aid Foundation revealed that 82% of charity leaders are concerned about managing their bills and 35% about their ability to survive the crisis.
Charities need immediate and effective support, and we are committed to providing this, as much as we can to help organisations continue their work and support beneficiaries.
We have always recognised the importance of funding core costs to help groups deliver their services, and this is now more important than ever. As part of our immediate response, we are providing grants to help groups directly impacted by the crisis including foodbanks, warm hubs, and other cost-of-living activities with rent, utilities, volunteer and fuel expenses and salaries. We will also have a focus on supporting applications from organisations to help those most in need including foodbanks, warm hubs, and other cost-of-living activities.
To help inform our medium to long-term approach, as part of our Community Listening Project we will be contacting charities to better understand how the crisis is impacting their work, and where we need to direct our support.
Additionally, our online application form has also been updated so organisations can include information about how the crisis is affecting them.
We will share the insights from the Project as soon as it is available.
For organisations needing support, please contact us in one of the following ways:
- Call: 01245 355947
- E-mail: grants@essexcf.org.uk
- Twitter and Instagram
- Use that chat now box through our website
Additional support available in Essex:
Read the Cost of Living Support resource pack for Essex organisations from Active Essex and Essex County Council.