Severn Trent’s Community Fund has provided more than £90,000 in financial support for charities in Gloucestershire to help with running costs since 2020.
Recently the National Council for Voluntary Organisations highlighted the worrying scale of many groups and charities facing extremely tough times – which they said is no longer just a cost-of-living crisis, but a ‘Cost of Giving’ crisis.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations research shared that one in five charities thought they would be forced to ‘disappear’ during the winter if they didn’t get support, leaving the people and communities they serve at risk.
With this announcement, the Community Fund team were quick to respond to the issue and made over £500,000 available, the remainder of this financial year’s funding, for core cost support, to help groups across its region and to help meet this urgent need for support within its communities.
With this support from Severn Trent’s Community Fund, community groups and charities have been able to stay open and continue to deliver essential support in the community, as its core running costs will be covered.
All the funding has now been awarded and Headway Gloucestershire has been given a share of £17,820.
Jade Gough, Severn Community Fund Officer, said: “Charities always find it hard to seek out and generate funding, but currently, we know that times are incredibly tough, and it is really hitting charitable organisations hard. Charities provide valuable support to communities, so it’s important that we help them deliver essential services.
“It was so important that we supported Gloucestershire in this way with core funding to help them get through some of the tougher months. We hope the support that has been provided will help them to continue to be there for the communities that they serve.
“We now look ahead to the next financial year and continuing to fund new projects whilst in the summer, another opportunity for core funding will be available. We look forward to supporting some more amazing organisations and projects from across the Severn Trent region.”
Over the past four years, Severn Trent’s Community Fund has helped numerous organisations with core funding in Gloucestershire including Headway Gloucestershire, Priors Park Neighbourhood Project, Cinderford Area Neighbourhood Development Initiative, Insight Gloucestershire, Hesters Way Partnership Limited.
Julie Reader-Sullivan, CEO of Headway Gloucestershire said: “This is such an amazing opportunity, to have received support from Severn Trent Community Fund Core Funding. This will make a massive difference to the people we work with and to our small staff team, volunteers and trustees.”
Grants from the Severn Trent Community Fund are available to non-profit organisations. Core funding will again be available in the summer for charities that run for the benefit of local residents, supporting those most vulnerable, and who need urgent financial help to keep their activities and services running.
To find out more about the Community Fund, and how to apply visit www.stwater.co.uk/corefunding