Surviving Winter Appeal launched to help those in need
22nd December 2021
Older and vulnerable people in Essex will be forced to choose between heating and eating this winter – but you could help those most at risk.
Essex Community Foundation (ECF) has launched the ‘Surviving Winter Appeal’ to raise vital funds for older and vulnerable people who struggle during the colder months.
If you receive the Winter Fuel Allowance and don’t need it to pay your own bills, please consider donating it.
All donations 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.
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at ECF, said: “Rising energy and food costs will cause many older and vulnerable people to worry about turning their heating on this winter which can be extremely dangerous to their health and well-being.
“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.
“Every donation, whatever the amount, will help to make a significant difference.”
To make a donation, please visit our giving page.
Cheques can also be sent to the Essex Community Foundation offices: 121 New London Road, Chelmsford, CM2 0QT.
Granting New Year wishes through charity payouts
20th December 2021
The wishes of half a dozen local charities have been granted as independent Co-op, Chelmsford Star, completed its first round of payouts from their new Community Fund this week.
Six charities from across Essex, each benefiting our local community in entirely unique ways, received gifts of between £2,000 and £5,000 to assist them with their efforts and for specific projects and improvements.
These ranged from easing isolation for members of the BAME and disabled communities, providing housing and education to abandoned teenagers, or offering a counselling or advice service.
Nikki from Renew Counselling said; “Each of the groups benefitting today are shining a light in the darkness for the individuals they serve. How appropriate that the Chelmsford Star is helping provide some of that light.”
Other groups benefiting in the first round of payments include Southend YMCA, Happy Hill, Southend Christian Fellowship, the Essex Multicultural Activities Network and Braintree District Mencap Society.
Chelmsford Star Co-op has been providing assistance to hundreds of local groups for over 150 years, but it set up the Community Fund during lockdown as a way to give greater financial aid. Those benefiting from the grant are selected by its members from applications made to the Essex Community Foundation (ECF) who assist with the management of the scheme.
Head of Membership for the Society, Kevin Bennett, said; “A portion of every transaction made in our food, department stores or travel agents is redirected into this Fund, along with corporate donations, colleague fundraisers, sales of carrier bags and money from collecting pots left by our generous customers. Local customers and members raised this money and it all benefits local groups who need it. It’s why our Co-op is set up like it is.”
If you would like to find out more about the Chelmsford Star Co-op Community Fund, or perhaps apply for a grant for your own organisation, in the first instance please contact membership@chelmsfordstar.coop.
You can also contact the ECF grants team on 01245 356018.
Read our latest Annual Review
10th December 2021
We have published our latest Annual Review which is available to read here.
The Review highlights how the Essex voluntary sector has adapted to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, the importance of us funding core costs and some lovely stories about the people behind the charitable funds that were established this year.
You can also read our Grants Supplement here which highlights the local voluntary and community organisations we have supported during the last financial year.
If you have any questions about our work, please do get in touch on 01245 356018 or hello@essexcf.org.uk.
Charity cash boost through water company’s new community incentive
9th December 2021
Essex & Suffolk Water has launched a charity cash boost initiative and is asking customers to play their part in deciding where future funding goes.
Tens of thousands of pounds will be donated every year through Essex & Suffolk Water’s new community scheme – Drop Swap – the first of its kind for the company.
The initiative puts customers in the driving seat with deciding where donations to nominated charitable causes go on a bi-monthly basis and all by simply using the utility company’s free app.
Essex & Suffolk Water’s app is available for customers to use around the clock to access services, such as updating their water meter readings and making account payments at a time that suits them. By using the app customers will be rewarded with ‘e-drops’ to vote for their local charity of choice and can nominate other charitable causes to benefit from future support.
Louise Hunter, who is Essex & Suffolk Water’s Corporate Affairs Director, said: “We already support our local communities in many ways – gifting time and expertise via our amazing employee volunteers to donating cash and equipment to community and environmental projects.
“The Drop Swap initiative is a fantastic addition to the great support we give our communities and it will help the charitable causes that matter the most to our customers. The idea originally came from a session with our customers at our 2019 Innovation Festival and so I’m especially pleased to see it brought to life as a great example of how our customers can shape how we deliver our services.
“We want to help as many deserving causes as possible, through this funding channel, across our local communities of Essex, Suffolk and London Boroughs. So that’s why I’m urging all of our customers to download and start using our free app to help the causes that are close in their hearts.”
The utility company asked its customers and employees which issues they felt were most important to their communities, and where it could make the most positive difference. The key areas were named as eradicating water poverty, supporting water for health and improving the water environment.
Charities and projects supporting these three areas will benefit from the Drop Swap fund and will also be offered some help from the company’s employee volunteering programme, Just an Hour.
Essex & Suffolk Water is extending its longstanding working partnership of delivering thousands of pounds worth of project grant funding with the support of the Essex Community Foundation, who will help to deliver this cash funding boost to charitable causes across the whole of its operating area.
Andy Payne Warpole, Head of Programmes at Essex Community Foundation, said: “We are pleased to support Essex & Suffolk Water, as one of our fundholders, to further engage with their customers and to promote the work of local charities.”
For more information on the company’s Drop Swap initiative, visit: www.eswater.co.uk/app and in your android or iOS app store by searching for ‘Essex & Suffolk Water’.
If you are an Essex-based voluntary organisation in need of funding, please contact our grants team on 01245 356018 or email grants@essexcf.org.uk
New grants help grassroots groups get connecting
3rd December 2021
A series of grants have been awarded to help groups and charities get active in the community again.
The awards by the Braintree District and Eastlight Community Fund, set up by Braintree District Council and Eastlight Community Homes with the independent charitable trust Essex Community Foundation (ECF), are for grassroots projects that make a big difference for people in the district.
They are being used to organise exciting trips for more than 60 scouts, pay for new tools at a community shed, hire space for a baby and toddler group and create a community garden.
Wethersfield Community Activities has been awarded £1,500 to fund three years of hall hires for its bumps, baby and toddler group. Donations can now be used to create extra events and buy more fun toys and activities.
Trustee Becky Wilson said the free sessions were often the only opportunity for parents in the village to meet up. She said: “It’s been incredible for the mental health of the mums. You can see the difference in the parents from when the first started to now.”
Cressing Temple Community Shed has used its grant of £1,932 to buy tools including screwdrivers, a saw and nail guns to replace ageing equipment.
The 25 members meet three times a week in a converted shed at the historic venue to build everything from planters and birdboxes to a sledge for Santa to use at a charity’s children’s Christmas party.
John Wilson, vice chair, said while the shed was open to all, many members were retired men who live alone following a bereavement.
He said: “We come along to get ourselves out of the house and have someone to talk to. You don’t have to make anything – if you just want to have a chat then you can.”
A grant of £600 will help the Earls Colne branch of Incredible Edible to create a community garden near the village’s town hall to be used by residents of Grammar School House residential home and, potentially, pupils from the village’s primary school.
Last year, the group began growing fruit and vegetables in a donated plot of land on the High Street and leaving them for anyone to pick up, cook and eat.
Jayne Meleschko said the group had already grown from six to 15 members and had been donated greenhouse space to grow more.
She said: “I’ve met an awful lot of people through it and because the garden’s right on the High Street we often spend more time talking to people going past than we do on gardening. That’s the joy of it.”
1st Silver End Scouts have been awarded £2,000 and will use it to for activity-packed trips for more than 60 youngsters to the Peak District, Bournemouth and Wales are affordable.
Phil Kilburn, assistant scout leader, said the youngsters had met up over Zoom during the pandemic but much preferred taking part in activities and seeing each other in person.
He added: “Now we’re back face to face, our numbers are booming again. Children really just want to get out, spend time with each other and get active.”
Isedale WA CIC have received £3,500 to run a mentoring and support programme for Black, Asian and minority ethnic teenagers.
James Green, Eastlight’s Community Investment Director, said: “Congratulations to all the wonderful community groups out there who are doing so much to support local people. It’s brilliant to see these grants being used to help people connect again after such a difficult couple of years.”
Cllr Frankie Ricci, Cabinet member for Communities at Braintree District Council, said: “It is great that this latest round of funding is helping our communities connect again and supporting projects that bring people together. It is an important tool in combating loneliness and improving emotional health and wellbeing.”
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at ECF, said: “We are pleased to manage this Fund which provides such a great resource for grassroot charities and groups that need a smaller amount of funding to make a big difference in their communities.”
A panel of Eastlight Community Homes and Braintree District Council representatives are meeting again to consider the applications of eight further charities which have applied for grants of up to £40,000.
To find out how your business can set up a Fund to help your local community, click here.
To apply for a grant, visit our Apply for Support page.
Online lessons are teaching English to people in West Essex
16th November 2021
People in West Essex who are migrants and refugees are receiving increased support to help improve their English language skills and integrate into their local communities, thanks to a local charity.
Integration Support Services (ISS) was founded in 2005 by a group of refugees and migrants and has recently received £20,000 from the independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF), to run a series of English as a Second Language (ESOL) classes online.
Their work focuses on supporting the successful integration of migrants, refugees, ethnic minority communities and groups in Essex and Hertfordshire.
They also provide employment advice, help in filling out forms and family and one-to-one drop-in sessions.
Sangita Mittra, chief executive of ISS, said: “Many of our clients speak very limited English and are unable to access mainstream services or take part in their new local community due to language barriers.
“The classes improve our learners understanding of both written and verbal English, helping them to advocate, integrate, and gain paid employment for themselves, without needing to rely on interpreters, whilst reducing the need for public assistance.
“We also offer advice and guidance on a range of topics and with our current staff and volunteer capacity we can provide multi-lingual support for up to 15 languages.”
If you are a client and require help with any issues relating to integration, please call ISS on 01279 639442.
If you are a local voluntary organisation that is in need of funding to support your work, please call our grants team on 01245 356018 or click here to apply.