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.
Over £530,000 has been awarded to 10 local charities
26th August 2021
Home-Start Essex and Southend in Sight are among 10 local voluntary organisations to receive a share of £530,000, awarded from the Mid & South Essex Community Partnership Grants Programme.
The Programme has been administered locally by the independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF), working with the Mid & South Essex Hospitals Charity, Mid and South Essex Health Care Partnership and NHS Charities Together.
Grants of between £30,000 and £80,000 are being awarded to help communities that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, giving a much-needed boost to local charities in this challenging time, and whose work is helping to reduce the demand on NHS services.
The funded organisations support local residents, including children and young people, older people, families, those with disabilities, homeless people and carers.
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at ECF, said: “Working together with our partners means that the money generously donated during the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Appeal has the greatest impact.
“The grants awarded will support a diverse range of community groups that are making a difference to the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds in mid and South Essex. The organisations to receive grants are:
- BOSP Brighter Opportunities for Special People, in Basildon, have been funded to provide counselling and a respite service for children with disabilities and life limiting illnesses, who are unable to attend school during the pandemic
- CARA Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse offer counselling to survivors of sexual violence across mid and south Essex
- Dial South Essex have received funding to support disabled people of all ages, their carers and families
- Home-Start Essex are being supported to provide mental health and wellbeing support to expectant and new parents or parents with pre-school children
- SNAP have been funded for their family support service informing and empowering parents with special needs or disabled children across South Essex
- South Essex Advocacy Services have been supported to fund the extension for the ‘Hospital to Home’ service, including older people with significant support needs in Basildon, Rochford and Southend
- Southend In Sight are working in a partnership called Essex Vision to improve and increase the support offered to visually impaired people
- Yellow Door Youth Hub have received funding to provide counselling, mentoring, and social activities for young people, aged 11 to 25, on Canvey Island
- CHESS have been funded to help people across Chelmsford, Braintree, Maldon and Rochford who are homeless or rough sleepers
- Southend Carers’ Forum engage with local unpaid carers with a focus on underrepresented groups including young carers, those from Black, Asian, Minority Ethic communities and male carers
Alan Tobias OBE, Chair of Mid and South Essex Hospitals Charity, said: “I have passed on my congratulations to the successful organisations and I wished them well with their planned work. I am really pleased we have been able to deliver the programme and look forward to seeing the organisations work in partnership with the community of Mid & South Essex.”
Professor Mike Thorne CBE, Chair of Mid and South Essex Health & Care Partnership said: “I am delighted such a varied group of local organisations in Mid and South Essex will be able to support and help make a difference to the lives of those in our communities that have been impacted most by the pandemic, thanks to our community grants programme funded by NHS Charities Together.”
“Essex Vision”, four local sight loss charities, are working together to address the needs of the visually impaired community who have been affected by COVID-19. They will use the grant to provide outreach, wellbeing activities, information and support, helping to reduce isolation and increase confidence as we come out of the pandemic.
Lucy Martin, Chief Executive of Southend in Sight, on behalf of Essex Vision and the four charities said: “We are all thrilled to be working together across Mid & South Essex to help visually impaired people build their confidence as society begins to open up.
“It has been particularly difficult for many to navigate their way through the pandemic and as small local charities we can now provide the much needed one to one support to help those most in need.”
For more information about applying to ECF for a grant, click here.
Community bus service returns
10th August 2021
A community bus scheme for people living in rural areas of Epping and Harlow is back up and running after nearly a year of offering an adapted service.
The charity, Epping Forest & Harlow Community Transport (EHCT), helps local people who are unable to use conventional public transport, including the elderly, those who are disabled or people who are rurally isolated.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic their fleet of 18 mini-buses made around 8,000 door-to-door service journeys each month, but they had to adapt their offering in March 2020 when the country went into lockdown.
Angela Canham, manager of EHCT, said: “Although we were unable to operate as usual, we knew that our clients still needed our support.
“We applied for a grant from Essex Community Foundation and were awarded £13,175 from their Essex Coronavirus Response and Recovery Programme, which meant we could buy the equipment needed for some of our team to work from home.
“They made daily calls to our housebound passengers to provide them with some reassurance that they weren’t alone and help prevent them from feeling isolated.
“We also made trips to St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping and worked with NHS Princess Alexander Hospital in Harlow to deliver medications to patients who had gone home after being treated for Coronavirus or those with serious underlying heath conditions who needed to self-isolate.
“The funding we received also meant that we could add safety screens in our mini-buses for when restrictions eased.
“Like many charities, our income and donations reduced, but the need for our services grew. We are so grateful to ECF and their fundholders who decided to support us. It helped us get through a very challenging time and kept us going.”
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at Essex Community Foundation, said: “Community transport services like EHCT provide a lifeline to people who are elderly or disabled, especially those who live in rural communities where there is a limited or no bus service at all.
“Knowing they can attend an appointment, meet friends or simply do some shopping, is so important as it helps keep them connected to their community and reduces feelings of isolation.”
EHCT are recruiting for new volunteers to help meet renewed demand for their services. To discuss the available positions, please call 01992 579556 or e-mail: efct@efcommunitytransport.org.uk.
For more information about ECF and how you can apply for funding, click here or call our friendly grants team on 01245 356018.
To support local charities and community organisations, please donate to our Acorn Fund Challenge here. We are currently matching all gifts on a 2 to 1 basis.
Over £100,000 awarded from the East of England Co-op’s Community Cares Fund to 30 organisations
5th August 2021
The grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 will give a much-needed boost in support to local groups working hard to support our communities through this challenging time.
Initially set up in April 2020, in response to the pandemic, the retailer’s Community Cares Fund helps local voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to create or adapt services that will have a positive impact on communities across Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex.
The Community Cares Fund is supplemented by generous East of England Co-op members who, through donating their annual dividend, have so far contributed nearly £190,000 to the fund since it opened last year.
This latest round of funding, which was open for applications from April to May 2021, aims to support groups looking to 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.
Niall O’Keeffe, Joint Chief Executive of the East of England Co-op said: “There has been some truly inspirational work happening across our region to support local communities throughout the pandemic. We’re delighted to be able to support our local groups and organisations to grow and adapt their services as we move out of lockdown.”
This latest round of funding 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 added: “We had initially planned to run a second round of applications this Summer. However, after receiving such an unprecedented volume of applications we decided to combine the grants available from both rounds to make sure we could support as many organisations as possible at this crucial time.
“It’s clear that the criteria we set for applications in April really resonated with organisations as they look to re-focus and expand their work with our communities during this period of change. We’re really excited to see the difference our grant recipients will be able to make.”
The Dance Network Association CIC, based in Colchester, are among the Essex grant recipients. They have been awarded £5,000 to create new classes for older adults and those living with Dementia and Parkinson’s.
Gemma Wright, CEO and Founder of Dance Network Association said: “The funding we have received from the Community Cares Fund will allow us to deliver a programme of work after such a difficult year for all. Our project is specifically for those that have been shielding or isolating due to living with conditions such as Parkinson’s and Dementia.
“We will be delivering ‘in person’ activities from September 2021 which will support these people to reengage in physical and social activity in Colchester and find the joy and benefits of dancing. The fund will specifically support the organisation to evaluate the benefits of our dance programmes on those with lived conditions and support us to profile these benefits for future-proofing our crucial work in the community.”
The other organisations that are working in Essex and have been awarded a grant are:
- Ferriers Barn in Essex were awarded £4,000 towards the adaptation of facilities to ensure activity can continue for adults with learning difficulties.
- The Victor Batte Lay Foundation in Colchester were awarded £5,000 towards the creation of arts activities within a new community hub in the town centre.
- REACH have been awarded £5,000 towards the cost of expanding their foodbank provision across rural West Suffolk and North Essex, targeting rural residents who need food but struggle to access foodbanks.
- Age Concern, Colchester & North East Essex have been awarded £5,000 towards re‐establishing pop‐up dementia cafes across Colchester and Tendring to aid the mental heath and wellbeing of carers.
- Colchester & Tendring Youth Enquiry Service were awarded £5,000 to towards the development of counselling services for young people in Colchester whose mental health has been affected by the pandemic.
Community Cares Fund grants have been awarded to a diverse range of community groups that are making a difference to the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds across our region. A full list of successful grant recipients can be found at: eastofengland.coop/grantsawards
The next round of funding from the East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund is due to open in Autumn 2021.