Galloper Wind Farm empowers local communities
21st September 2021
An allotment club for disabled people, financial support for families in crisis and a lunch club for older people are among five charitable projects in Harwich to receive support from the Galloper Wind Farm Community Fund.
The Fund, which was set up by RWE Renewables UK on behalf of the Galloper Wind Farm project, with the independent charitable trust Essex Community Foundation (ECF) in 2018, has to date distributed grants totalling over £39,000 to voluntary and community organisations working in Harwich and Tendring.
Sean Chenery, Galloper General Manager, said: “As a business, it is important that we support the communities where we work. We employ around 60 people at our base in Harwich, and many of them live locally so it is important to us that we give something back.
“Awarding grants to support charities and voluntary groups is just one way for us to show our commitment to the area and recognition of the valuable contribution that these organisations provide.
“We are pleased to be working with ECF who are helping us to direct our funds to where it will make a difference and where we can see that the money we give is contributing positively to the lives of local people.”
“The latest grants awarded are contributing to a wide range of support and activities that we hope will benefit all ages.”
The voluntary and community organisations benefiting from support this year are:
- Clacton Salvation Army receive £1,500 to employ a cook for their lunch club which runs three times a week and feeds over 100 older people.
- Market Field Farm, which provides training opportunities for young people with learning disabilities, Autism and mental health issues, receive £1,710 for a new gardening project to help their members gain employment skills.
- Salvation Army Harwich receive £2,000 for their work providing financial support to families who are experiencing food and fuel poverty.
- Teen Talk (Harwich) receive £1,000 to help them with the cost of providing free, confidential information and support to local people aged 11-25.
Parkeston Residents and Welfare Park Association are also receiving £1,000 to start a new gardening and allotment club, which will be accessible to those with disabilities.
Bill Davidson, chairman of the group, said: “Being outdoors and growing flowers or vegetables is a great way to improve and support positive mental health and wellbeing, especially after so many months of coping with the pandemic.
“We are so pleased to receive this funding. It will help us to create a wonderful space that will be accessible for everyone, including those in wheelchairs. Hopefully, it will encourage people to get up and out of the house, meet friends and socialise, which is so important.
“We want the allotment to be somewhere that people can get away from the stresses of life and work together with a shared sense of pride and achievement. Members can use the produce we grow and hopefully there will also be enough for us to use at our very successful dining club.”
If you or your company would like to support local charities, please get in touch with ECF to discuss the different ways they can help you.
ECF is also running a matched challenge for donations to its Acorn Fund which supports local charities in Essex. For every £2 donated, £1 will be added. Give online.
For more information about how to apply a grant, click here or call 01245 356018.
Ground-breaking Essex writer is celebrated for commemoration project
20th September 2021
Margaret Cavendish – visionary Essex-born playwright, poet, novelist, scientist and philosopher – is finally remembered in Colchester, 400 years after her birth in the town.
A commemorative plaque is to be unveiled by Jennifer Tolhurst, Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, on Wednesday 22 September 2021 at 5pm, adjacent to St John’s Abbey Gate, Colchester, the birthplace of Margaret Cavendish in 1623.
Mrs Tolhurst said: “It is a privilege to be able to mark the extraordinary achievements of a remarkable woman born in Essex and in so many ways centuries ahead of her time. I hope that greater knowledge about her work will inspire today’s generation, especially women and girls in our county”.
Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) published under her own name when most women writers remained anonymous.
Her topics included biography, philosophy, poetry, a novel (one of the earliest examples of the sci-fi genre), short stories, children’s fables and more than twenty plays.
As a scientist, she was deemed important enough to be the first woman invited to attend a meeting of the Royal Society. She was the first person ever to write a critique of one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Graham Watts, Essex Women’s Commemoration Project team member, adds: “Margaret Cavendish is one of those remarkable people from the past who seem indelibly linked to the present. Describing the experiences of women, she depicts gaslighting and emotional abuse, the pain and dangers of bearing children, and the constant battle to save them from starvation. Cavendish was aware that society was not ready to hear her: ‘I regard not so much the present but future ages, for which I intend all my books’.”
Her publications challenged the contemporary belief that women were inherently inferior to men. She wished she could have had the benefit of attending school, like her brothers, but that was a privilege denied to women of the day. Nevertheless, as the range and quality of her output testifies, she more than held her own while being a life-long advocate for women’s education.
This unveiling is the first of a series of plaques being planned across the county of Essex.
Each will commemorate the life and achievements of individual Essex women so far overlooked by history. Fields will include the arts, writing, politics, science, philanthropy, education, social and military welfare, medicine, horticulture, activism and leadership.
Further details will follow as each plaque is announced.
The Essex Women’s Commemoration Project was launched last year, following a proposal to the Lord-Lieutenant by Essex theatre director Graham Watts to mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of Margaret Cavendish.
The objectives support the work of the Essex Women’s Advisory Group, a charitable fund that is managed by Essex Community Foundation.
Community Cares Fund reopens for second round of applications
The region’s largest independent retailer is awarding grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to charities and organisations supporting people in its trading areas across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
Since its launch in April 2020, the East of England Co-op has donated over £410,000, including £190,000 donated by members, from its Community Cares Fund to local charities and good causes.
In July this year the retailer awarded their first round of funding for 2021, with £112,000 going to 30 organisations across Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex. The East of England Co-op received an overwhelming number of applications, demonstrating both the need and desire of community groups to refocus and increase the support they offer as the country transitions into this next phase of the pandemic.
Niall O’Keeffe, Joint Chief Executive of the East of England Co-op said: “We’re delighted to be opening this next round of applications for grants from our Community Cares Fund. The local causes we’ve supported so far have been able to achieve fantastic things so it’s wonderful to be giving this opportunity to even more groups and organisations in our region.
“There are so many inspiring people and groups in our communities working to make a positive difference. If you’re one of those people and the work you’re doing is addressing one of our key focus areas; community action, mental health and wellbeing or food justice for all, I’d encourage you to find out more about our Community Cares Fund and see if you are eligible to apply for a grant.”
Ferriers Barn, one of the charities in Essex that received funding in the previous round, provides a range of activities for adults with disabilities from their day centre in rural Essex, near Bures. Ferriers Barn received £4,000 to help with some essential upgrades to the centre where they run activities including cookery, woodwork, pottery, gardening and arts and crafts.
Nicola Goodman, Administrator at Ferriers Barn said: “The grant the East of England Co-op provided was a god send, we had to close last year due to Covid-19 and since reopening have had to change the way in which we work, including more ventilation.
“Our existing heating system was antiquated and ineffective, not to mention noisy. We froze in the winter. We have used the grant money to replace the heating with wonderful infrared heating, which is highly efficient and silent. The difference is incredible. We are able to have the doors and windows open and still stay snug and warm.
“We honestly cannot thank the East of England Community Cares Fund enough for this grant, it means we can operate safely and still make sure our members are comfortable at all times.”
East of England Co-op’s Community Cares Fund is open to grant applications from voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, charities and parish councils that are creating or adapting services or activities that will have a positive impact in the communities where the East of England Co-op trades in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
The day-to-day administration of the Fund is carried out by Suffolk Community Foundation and distributed by Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex Community Foundations on behalf of the East of England Co-op.
Funding applications should address at least one of these key areas:
- Community action– including the development of physical and virtual spaces and services that bring communities together.
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Food justice for all– including access to, and sharing knowledge about good quality, nutritious food.
This fund is to support organisations in Colchester, Braintree, Maldon, Tendring. Near to their shops: Store finder – East of England Co-op
The deadline to apply is Friday 8 October at 5pm. However, this Fund may be closed early if oversubscribed so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
Grant decisions will be made in January 2022.
To apply, please fill out our online application form here. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your work in advance of applying, please call the ECF grants team on 01245 356018.
Funding available to help improve charities digital services
17th September 2021
Voluntary and community organisations in Essex are invited to apply for funding to develop and improve their digital services.
The Digital Grants Programme, which is managed by the independent charitable trust Essex Community Foundation (ECF), helps voluntary organisations to make use of digital technology and improve the experience their beneficiaries have.
The Programme has now reopened for its second round of applications and will not only provide vital funding, but also create a network of organisations in Essex that have an interest in developing their digital skills for the benefit of the wider community.
Examples of grants previously awarded:
- £4,000 to Teen Talk (Harwich) to develop a new website and improve their social media presence to better represent a charity supporting young people in Tendring.
- £5,180 to Peaceful Place to buy a CRM system to help the Basildon-based organisation support people with young onset dementia.
- £10,000 to YMCA Essex to upgrade their WiFi network and improve internet connection at a YMCA housing facility for young people in Colchester.
- £9,265 to Essex Blind Charity towards the redevelopment of their mobile IT infrastructure and CRM system. were involved in the Programme last year.
Jonathan Dixon, General Manager of Essex Blind Charity, explains the difference their grant has made:
“It has truly transformed the way we work and how we can support people with a visual impairment. Our referrals are often newly diagnosed people who are struggling to come to terms with their sight loss.
“We visit them in their homes and our new CRM system, purchased with this grant, means we can collect client information all one place, and as it is cloud based, the whole team can access it both on the move and at the same time.
“This grant has helped us to support people in a timely manner, capturing all their needs with minimal fuss and being able to recall that information with ease.”
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at ECF, said “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the digital gap across the voluntary and community sector, and through our conversations with our grant partners, we have seen a renewed interest in developing the use of digital platforms.
“We are happy to consider applications for simple digital solutions, but also welcome innovative projects. Understandably, digital projects can take some time to implement, so multi-year grants are possible too.”
The average grant from this Programme is £9,500, however, there is no maximum grant limit.
ECF are keen for organisations involved to collaborate with others that have received funding, and will host events where they can share their learning and hear from digital experts.
How to apply:
Please call the ECF grants team on 01245 356018 to discuss your ideas in advance of applying. Alternatively, you can email grants@essexcf.org.uk.
There is no deadline, but please be aware that funding decisions may take up to two months.
For more information on eligibility and to complete our online application form, please click here.
Medieval building discovered by Burnham archaeological group
14th September 2021
A local archaeological group has discovered an early medieval building in Southminster.
The Burnham u3a archaeological group was formed in 2018 and chose the Southminster Hall site after an interesting crop mark was spotted on a Google Earth image.
Members began digging in July 2020 with the blessing of the owners, and had no idea what was to come. They started revealing the stone foundations of an early medieval building by August.
With the help of historian Kevin Bruce, who gave copies of maps and documents dating back to 1600, they discovered nothing mentioned or showed the stone building.
In October, historic buildings expert David Andrews was invited onsite for his opinion. He thought it might be a chamber block associated with an early manor house and advised members to seek funding to continue the excavation more professionally.
Deputy leader of the Burnham u3a Archaeological Group, Sue Spier, said: “We have been fortunate enough to receive over £11,000 in two grants from the Turncole Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, which is managed by Essex Community Foundation.
“This has enabled us to pay Archaeology South East to supply our group with senior archaeologist Ellen Heppell who has taught us how to excavate and record properly, together with the equipment we need to do the job professionally.
“Our group returned to the site with Ellen, in late March 2021, working within the COVID-19 restrictions and with her help we have now opened up nine trenches, including one that had been dug as a test pit by Access Cambridge Archaeology a few years before as a schools project which we didn’t know about until after we started.”
The group have now excavated three sides of a building, all with substantial walls built of septaria, on the eastern side of the lawn.
This includes a central area with an east/west wall cut into by a 17th century drain, and two substantial parallel walls running north to south, up to 13 courses of stone deep at the western end of the site.
“Our excavation work is almost complete and we are hard at work recording sections, doing plan drawings and context sheets for all the trenches.”
Archaeology South East will complete the finds analysis and produce a post excavation report based on the group’s records, drawings and photographs.
The site will then be included in the Historic Environment Record and the entire excavation data will be available to all.
In 2022, there will be a year long display of the excavation in Burnham Museum.
The group’s finds have spanned from flint tempered prehistoric pottery, to Saxon, to medieval and later.
They also discovered Roman brick and tile, and large amounts of animal bones, amounting to over half a pig.
Sue added: “The motto of the u3a is ‘learning, friendship and fun’, and we have had fun and learned a tremendous amount, making new friends along the way, we’ve also grown in confidence and look forward to tackling new projects – although nothing will ever compare with this.
“We are very grateful to the Burnham u3a committee who put in a lot of work applying for grants on our behalf. The Heritage Open Days hopefully will go some way to repaying their effort.”
Reposted from the Maldon and Burnham Standard.
Building self-confidence and social skills
10th September 2021
An organisation in Ongar has now reopened, offering a programme of activities to help people develop their self-confidence and social skills in a relaxed and friendly space.
Zinc Arts, which is running a wide range of activities for adults who have learning disabilities, survived its closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to a grant of £10,000 from the independent charitable trust Essex Community Foundation (ECF).
This lifeline funding helped to cover their lost income when they had to stop their theatre courses during lockdown and were unable to hire out rooms.
Sonia Cakebread, programme manager at Zinc, said: “We are so grateful for the grant we received from ECF as without it, we may have had to close down for good, and we could focus on hosting online sessions to continue supporting our clients.
“We also offered our empty premises to 3Food4U, which collects surplus food from supermarkets and donates it to people in need. This extra space meant they were able to increase their distribution, helping over 100 local families to get food, toiletries, clothes and other essential items.
“Our activities includes baking, flower arranging, pottery workshops and more. We are so excited to be back!”
Zinc also runs a community café, theatre workshops for all abilities and they use their profits to houses six local families who are homeless.
For more information about how you can apply for funding, click here.