Provide Foundation calls for grant applications
16th November 2020
We are inviting grant applications for up to £10,000 from the Provide Foundation.
Provide is an Essex based social enterprise owned by its staff members and delivers a broad range of community health services in the County. The Provide Foundation is managed by Essex Community Foundation (ECF), with the aim to improve and increase access to community health projects and services by supporting voluntary and community organisations working in Essex, Southend and Thurrock.
This year, the Provide Foundation would like to support organisations or projects that have a clear link to health and social care and meet one of the following objectives:
-continue to adapt well to help the community during the pandemic
-support those who are socially isolated, particularly those most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic
Links to health and social care can include:
-to help keep people out of hospital
-to help people leave hospital more quickly
-to help people stay healthy in their community
-to improve health and wellbeing in the community
The grants of up to £10,000 are available for up to one year and can support core and operating costs, project costs or capital items. Provide are particularly interested in projects that improves digital and technology for people to access projects and services.
The decision making panel is also interested to understand if your project complements their own work or whether you have contact with Provide’s services. For example, if you receive referrals from their staff. Please do include this detail in your application. For more information about Provide and their services click here.
Please complete your application here by 5pm on Friday 8 January and submit it with your supporting documents. The Provide Foundation will award grants in early March.
The deadline to apply for this Fund was on Friday 8 January at 5pm. To still apply for a grant, from another fund that we manage, please call our grants team on 01245 356018 to discuss your work.
Still standing with the sector
4th November 2020
Reposted from the London Funders website.
We, along with a wider group of funders, recognise that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to have a significant impact on civil society groups, and want to offer renewed assurance that we stand with the sector at this time.
As COVID-19 hit our communities we saw how the incredible work of civil society groups helped people through the worst of times. We know civil society will also be crucial to the recovery and renewal of our communities beyond the crisis, and think it’s important to say that we’re not going anywhere – we’re going to be on the side of communities and civil society for the years ahead.
We recognise that these are difficult times for everyone – personally and professionally – and that there will be challenges ahead for us all. We are strongest when we work together, so if you receive grant funding from us we are committed to:
Listening – we’re continuing to listen to the needs of our communities and civil society, and remain committed to the original pledges of the We Stand With The Sector statement on flexibility and responsiveness to these needs.
Learning – we’re learning all the time about how we and civil society can strengthen our work together, and are thinking about how we can share and apply this learning so that we can continue to be effective funders for the future.
Long-term – we’re here for you in lockdowns, and we’ll still be here beyond crisis – we’re working hard to make sure our funding helps communities and civil society thrive now and in the years ahead, and will continue to be open with you as our funding response develops.
We’re proud to play our part in supporting the amazing work of people across civil society – from before COVID-19, through the crisis, and into the future. We stand with the sector now, and always.
To read more, including a list of all other signatories please click here.
Helping to raise a smile
Families struggling to cope with life-threatening or long-term illnesses have had smiles brought back into their lives through the unique work of an award-winning organisation.
Grant a Smile, a not-for-profit community enterprise, was set up five years ago by former teacher Joyce Obaseki, who lives in Loughton.
The organisation, which had the accolade of a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service last year, has been given a grant of £11,540 from Essex Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Response and Recovery Programme.
The funding has given Grant a Smile’s work a vital boost in its quest to help families in need.
Joyce launched the organisation after discovering that no support was available for children like one of her pupils, who came to school in a dirty uniform because his mother, who had cancer, was too ill to provide him with clean clothes. The boy was being bullied at school because of his unkempt appearance and Joyce became determined to give youngsters like him the help they need.
Grant a Smile gives free practical support for eligible families whose home life is affected by serious illness. The organisation also aims to grant special wishes for children and has set its sights on expanding its work to help vulnerable and elderly people.
“The help we give can be life-changing, particularly for children who have had to become young carers because they have a parent who is seriously ill,” said Joyce.
“We go into the home and help with all kinds of chores, including cleaning, washing, ironing and gardening. This sort of support has a magical effect, once the house is in order it allows families to have less stressful lives with more time together, without the worry of all the jobs that need to be done.
“We have given this type of valuable help to a Mum who has cancer. One of her three children, a 10-year-old girl, who had been lively and bright as a button, had become mute and was missing out on school. The house was deteriorating, and the Mum was struggling to cope.
“As well as giving practical support in the home, we help with life skills too. We worked closely with the family and one of our volunteers, a mental health specialist and a life coach, gave psychological support.
“The 10-year-old started talking again and her school attendance improved. She doesn’t feel alone anymore and knows that people understand what she is going through. Although her Mum’s health may not get any better, we have been able to teach her how to handle things and she is not overwhelmed anymore.
“We are very grateful for the grant from Essex Community Foundation. There are so many families who need the type of help we can provide which is impossible to find elsewhere.”
The Coronavirus pandemic has meant that Grant a Smile, which has 36 volunteers, has had to prioritise its work to help the families in greatest need. They have been distributing food parcels throughout the pandemic and report a significant rise in referrals.
Joyce and her team of volunteers are tackling the current challenges and the future, with the knowledge that they are making a huge difference to people’s lives and that their work is needed more than ever.
Support available for projects tackling food poverty
26th October 2020
We are pleased to be working with the Co-op who have donated £35,000 to support food projects in Essex and we would like to hear from local charities and voluntary organisations that are in need of support.
Grants of up to £15,000 are available and projects and activities must be tackling food inequality or encouraging healthy eating during the coronavirus pandemic. We are particularly interested to hear from groups that are working in partnership.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
– Foodbanks and emergency food provision
– Breakfast and lunch clubs
– School holiday food programmes
– Cooking and healthy eating projects
Please make sure your application reaches us by Friday 13 November. Our grants team are on hand to answer any questions or guide you through the application process so do call them on 01245 356018 or CHAT to us through our website. To apply, click here.
The Co-op has donated £1.5m to National Emergencies Trust and UK Community Foundations to award funding to local initiatives. The money was raised over the summer through purchases from the Co-op’s picnic range.
Former Deputy Chief Constable shares his passion for supporting local charities
21st October 2020
Charles Clark encountered several life-or-death situations and gained plenty of accolades during his time in the Essex police force.
The events were defining moments in his memorable career and Charles, who rose through the ranks to become the county’s Deputy Chief Constable, also embarked on life-changing work in the community.
“So many experiences during my police service have left an indelible impression on me,” says Charles.
“My involvement with the voluntary sector, particularly with Essex Community Foundation, has also been one of the most profound experiences of my life.”
As a young constable in Clacton 1972 Charles was the target of an attempted murder when he tried to arrest a teenager who was armed with a 22-calibre rifle. Six years later, as an acting inspector, he was taken hostage in Harlow by a gunman who was drunk and on drugs but managed to escape unharmed.
In 1984, on his first day in command as a chief inspector, he had to cope with the tragedy of a colleague, Bill Bishop, being shot dead in an armed robbery at Walton-on-the-Naze post office.
Charles was recognised for his bravery and showed that he had compassion, as well as a clear vision, of how the police force could progress and improve.
These strengths came to the fore when he became a founding trustee and later chairman of the independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF).
Charles is now a much-valued vice-president of ECF. He and his wife Sue, who live in Tolleshunt D’Arcy near Maldon, were among the first to set up a family fund managed by ECF to help support community and voluntary groups in Essex. The couple, who met at Maldon Grammar School when they were both 16, were married in 1969.
“Sue was one of the cleverest girls in the school and I was good at sport,” said Charles. “I wanted to be a professional footballer and had a couple of trials with clubs. Then I had plans to be a sports teacher, until I went for a beer with a friend who was a police cadet and seemed to be having a wonderful life, playing lots of sport and doing things in the community.
“I decided to apply to the Essex force and got the job. I was actually interviewed by the Chief Constable at the time and I think he was impressed that I had bought my own smart suit from my earnings from a holiday job, even though he suggested that my parents had paid for it. I was the first in my family to join the police force. I came from a working-class background and my dad was a lorry driver.”
As his career progressed Charles became more and more aware of issues affecting young people.
“I came across kids who were bright as buttons but had no chances in life because of where they came from and the way they had been brought up,” he said.
Charles went on to take a leading role in the youth justice system, helping to develop policies and strategy for the police service and working closely with the government. Sue was for many years a counsellor of young people and a trustee of Maldon Home-Start which enabled her to see how many children and families needed additional support.
It was when he was Assistant Chief Constable of Essex that Charles met the founder of ECF, the late Ian Marks and the organisation’s first chief executive, Laura Warren.
“Ian had the vision of setting up one of the first community foundations in the country and was approaching people he thought could help,” said Charles. “He talked about organisations sharing ideas and working in partnership in a strategic way. This was music to my ears, as I had realised, in my work with the police service, how important this approach was.
“I knew that the voluntary sector, which was massively parochial at the time, needed to be much more strategic. Ian set a fantastic £3 million match funding challenge to launch ECF and I became a founding trustee. I was able to combine my involvement in ECF with my role as Deputy Chief Constable, as partnership working was one of my objectives.”
During his time as chairman of ECF Charles was a passionate advocate of trustees taking a leading role in fund development and working with the ECF staff was responsible for a number of significant donations being made to ECF. One of Charles’ greatest achievements was his idea for ECF to work with Essex Police to set up the Proceeds of Crime Matched Funding Scheme. The initiative means that ECF is able to match on a 2:1 basis, donations from individuals or companies with money from seized criminal assets and the sale of stolen property recovered by the police. As the donations are invested into endowed funds managed by ECF, each year they give financial support to voluntary organisations and charities whose work is contributing to community safety in Essex.
“There were a few raised eyebrows at first when the scheme was put forward, but those with doubts became convinced that it was a good idea,” said Charles. “The concept is unique to Essex, but I would hope that in time, other police forces around the UK might work with their local community foundation in a similar way.”
After serving as a trustee and chairman of ECF, Charles became involved with community foundations across the UK, becoming a board member of UK Community Foundations and travelling across the country to help promote and develop their work.
As a vice-president of ECF, an OBE, a Queen’s Police Medal recipient and a deputy lieutenant of Essex, Charles, now retired from the Essex police force, is a much-respected figure.
Over the coming years Charles and Sue will introduce their two daughters and their families to ECF to ensure the Clark Family Fund continues to support young people for years to come.
He maintains his passion for the transformational work that community foundations can carry out in encouraging philanthropy and supporting the vital work of community and voluntary groups.
“I still talk to people as often as I can about giving money locally and how rewarding this can be. There is still a lot of scope for ECF for the future and, particularly at this time, its work is needed now more than ever,” he said.
New charitable fund to keep hearts beating in Essex
16th October 2020
A new charitable fund with its heart firmly in Essex has been launched with a pledge to spend money raised in the county on cardiac services for the county.
Essex Heart Fund has been set up by two local consultant cardiologists, Dr Gerald Clesham and Dr Thomas Keeble, along with charity specialist Fred Heddell, to bring major improvements to the lives of Essex heart patients and their families.
The fund will be managed by the highly respected independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation. Money donated to the Essex Heart Fund will only be spent in Essex, on community services and support groups, on the development of new hospital-based clinical services and to support local cardiovascular education and research.
Dr Clesham, who works at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford and at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon, said: “We know that the people of Essex are already very generous in donating to heart charities, however, only a tiny fraction of the money donated to national heart charities finds its way back to Essex. Our aim in setting up the Essex Heart Fund is to raise charitable funds for cardiac care in Essex and ensure that the money is spent in Essex.
“The fund will help support groups for patients and their families in the community, will fund new clinical services and will promote cardiovascular research and teaching in local hospitals and the community.
“Heart conditions are still the commonest causes of premature death and are a major cause of disability. Cardiac services in Essex serve a population of about 1.8 million people and we are confident that channelling more money into local services will result in an improved outcome for heart patients.”
Dr Clesham, who has been a consultant in Essex for 20 years, is president of the Chelmsford and District Cardiac Support Group and sees at first-hand how patients can often feel unsupported after being discharged from hospital.
“Helping patients in the community is a very effective way of keeping people well and the Essex Heart Fund will help cardiac patient support groups develop in Essex,” he said.
The fund will also enable new clinical services to be launched in Essex hospitals and the aim is for the NHS to commission the services when they have proved to be a success.
Locally based cutting-edge research and teaching in hospitals and the community will be another major area supported by the fund.
The initiatives will not only benefit patients but will also help with recruitment and retention of hospital staff, said Dr Clesham.
He and Dr Keeble, who works at Southend Hospital and the Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon, will be active in the Essex community to promote the fund and provide education about heart health.
“The Essex Heart Fund will have its own identity and we are pleased to be working with Essex Community Foundation as our umbrella organisation to provide all the relevant charity governance, which enables us to concentrate on the areas we want to support,” said Dr Clesham.
To find out more about the new Essex Heart Fund and to make a donation visit: www.essexheartfund.org.uk
DONATE TO ESSEX HEART FUND:
To donate £5, text ESSEXHF to 70970
To donate £10, text ESSEXHF to 70191