Emergency calls
Back in 2001, Cumbria was severely affected by the foot and mouth epidemic, with nearly 900 reported cases and over a million animals slaughtered. It spelt disaster and loss of livelihood for many: businesses, farms, other organisations and individuals. As the only charitable trust dedicated to Cumbria, it became clear that the foundation could help - even though significant sums were needed and the foundation was new. Within a short time the foundation had mustered a team of volunteers and supporters, distributed thousands of appeal leaflets and held a host of community fundraising initiatives. It succeeded in raising over �2.1 million for the recovery fund, nearly double its target. This sum has now been distributed in grants to those affected by the outbreak.

Further south, The Craven Trust in the North Yorkshire dales, which also suffered in the epidemic, succeeded in raising over �1 million for its appeal, working on a shoe string budget with a team of volunteers.
Cumbria Community Foundation

Enhancing the quality of life of pensioners
In Tyne & Wear, the community foundation administers the �8 million Kellett Fund to improve the lives of the old and infirm. All sorts of projects are supported, ranging from purchase of art material through to renovation of buildings for easier use by disabled people. The Kellett Fund is operated in the name of the donor family, a local couple who left a significant legacy to the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland for this purpose.
Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland

A legacy to the people of Bristol
The late Florence Lilian Denning, a long-standing Bristol resident left a gift of over �54,000 to the Greater Bristol Foundation. When Mrs Denning died in 1999, she left no children and her husband died soon after. The Florence Denning endowment fund was established within the community foundation in her memory. The fund is invested and the proceeds used to make grants to help elderly people in the Bristol area, in accordance with Mrs Denning�s wishes. The first grant from the fund was to help with costs of transporting elderly people to a weekly lunch club. Very few of the users would be able to get there under their own steam and rely on the coach paid for by the fund. One user said, �The coach is a godsend as I get out of breath very quickly and would be housebound.�
Quartet Community Foundation (covers Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset)

Supporting the Heroes
The Heroes - now an established band - was originally formed to provide the simple experience of a day in a professional recording studio for people with disabilities. This was made possible with support from the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester. Few could have seen how this would escalate. They won world-wide attention with their first single, Heroes, covering the David Bowie classic, and have gone on to produce two albums.
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester

Consulting the carers
A consultation event for young carers funded by Devon Community Foundation revealed how their caring responsibilities affect their education and their physical and mental health and helped plan support for this overlooked group of young people. 'Finding out just what is going on in the lives of the more disadvantaged groups in our communities is a springboard for providing the right help and support and is an important part of the community foundation's work.'
Devon Community Foundation

Women supporting women
Members of Business Women West, a Bristol-based club for professional, executive and self-employed women set up an endowment fund at the Greater Bristol Foundation to help disadvantaged women and their communities. �We set up our fund to help women in need. The foundation enables us to reach deserving causes that would be difficult to find out about on our own,� says Helen Wilde, President, Business Women West.

Their first grant went to Hartcliffe Tackles Drugs, a voluntary group run by mothers whose own sons and daughters had experienced drug problems. These women understand the sense of isolation when a family member becomes a drug addict and are offering support to others in similar circumstances. Founder member Sue Frankcom explains, �We have helped each other and want to help those in our community who are desperate for help but don�t know where to find it.� The two groups met recently to hear how the grant is changing the lives of local people.
Quartet Community Foundation (covers Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset)

You want it � you got it!
The �100,000 �You want it � you got it! � fund run by the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester together with the Co-operative Bank helps young people set up new projects to improve the quality of their lives, together with team building and personal development skills training. This unique fund offers grants directly to young people as well as to youth groups. It is aimed especially at talented and creative youngsters with bright ideas who feel alienated from the system and neglected at local levels. Nick Massey, Chief Executive of the foundation said the initiative demonstrates how effective a community involvement programme could be. �By providing training alongside funding we are empowering young people, giving them a sense of responsibility and positive support to make a real success of their projects.�
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester

Millennium spirit lives on
A hundred and forty individuals have received support and training to help implement their bright ideas for breathing new life into the former coalfields of County Durham, revitalising the most deprived areas of the county.

Thanks to County Durham Foundation�s Millennium Award scheme, funded by the Millennium Commission with matched funding from endowment fundholders at the community foundation, the award winners were offered training, mentoring and skills development. They also had the chance to visit other projects round the country for inspiration and specialist training relevant to their community training, such as paralegal and youthwork training. Projects set up by award winners include a support group for people with severe hearing loss, a drug awareness project and a cycling club for people with disabilities.
County Durham Foundation (includes Darlington)

Sahara - Asian women�s video project
Sahara provides accommodation and support for Asian women fleeing domestic violence. They were looking for new ways to help their women develop the skills to live independently in the community and applied to Berkshire Community Foundation for �6,700 to develop a user led video project by the women. Many of the women need to develop their written and spoken English and through this project they will produce a video which covers basic language requirements and community resources. Using this video as a starting point, the women will be encouraged to participate in other community learning initiatives already available in the area.

The project manager, Hydeh Nefarieh comments that the foundation was: �Very responsive to our ideas and flexible in their response. This project is a new and practical way for vulnerable Asian women to acquire some essential skills and more importantly the confidence to move on to other learning opportunities in the community.�
Berkshire Community Foundation

Do it
A grant of �5490 from the Berkshire Community Foundation enabled a small group of people in Slough who had been unemployed a considerable time to get together, learn new skills in desk top publishing and support other voluntary groups by designing and publishing leaflets, posters and newsletters for them. As well as developing the participants� confidence and self esteem, the project opened up other IT training and employment opportunities. Slough Borough Council, impressed by the project�s innovative approach, offered further funding to enable the project to develop and review its viability as a community business.
The project manager, John Nicholson, comments: �What I really like is the chance to try out something that is small, but significant � an idea that could be substantial in terms of its longer term impact on people�s lives.�
Berkshire Community Foundation

Tackling child poverty - Local Network Fund for children and young people
The Local Network Fund is part of the government�s commitment to eradicate child poverty within a generation. It is a grant-making programme for small voluntary and community groups tackling poverty and disadvantage affecting children and young people throughout England. Starting in 2001 in the most disadvantaged areas of the country, it now covers all parts of England so that all children and young people experiencing material poverty or poverty of opportunity, wherever they live, can benefit from community-based responses to their needs.

The government identified community foundations as the primary means of ensuring that grants reached their targets. Community Foundation Network set up and managed the fund for the first two years, finding local grant-makers to reach out to children and young people in need and to local people with great ideas for tackling those needs. Now centrally managed by the government�s Children and Young People�s Unit, it has been extended to 2005.

In most areas, community foundations are the local grant-making partners for the Local Network Fund. Where an area has no community foundation, other partners have been identified. Other organisations are also involved in the fund by publicising the fund widely to local communities.

Grants are made according to four themes:

• Aspirations and experience - giving children and young people experiences of helping them achieve goals that more privileged children take for granted


• Economic disadvantage - helping families improve their living standards and cope with the difficulties of being on low income


• Isolation and access - helping children that are isolated or alone, or having trouble getting access to services


• Children�s voices - giving children and young people the chance to express their opinions and give advice on issues that concern them

Fermanagh online
An exciting and innovative approach to building e-communities in Northern Ireland is being led by The Fermanagh Trust in partnership with British Telecom in Northern Ireland and local authorities.
Working with about 38 local rural community organisations throughout Fermanagh, the �100,000 Fermanagh Communities On-Line Initiative will equip participants with internet ready computer equipment and develop the groups� ICT competence and effectiveness. It will also develop a dedicated e-hub for the county to support and enhance communication among local communities and the private and public sectors throughout the region.

Fermanagh�s economy has suffered through the decline in traditional agriculture and industry, with its rural areas and communities bearing the brunt. The Trust envisages that by supporting groups to discover the possibilities of the new technology, it will enable them to act as demonstration models and encourage the filtering of the technology within all sections of their local communities.
Fermanagh Trust

Deprivation amid affluence
'How is it that in 2002, in one of the most affluent counties in England, a homeless man could starve to death outside a major supermarket?' asks Berkshire Community Foundation's community needs survey. Launched in 2003 the survey points out the pockets of need hidden under Berkshire's affluence. Community foundations research their areas in depth to help establish grant-making priorities.
Berkshire Community Foundation

Diversions from violence
Some years ago, the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland was concerned about the suffering caused to people living in communities that are living close to interface areas (the line between a mainly Nationalist area and a Unionist area) or that are overshadowed by our towering 'peace walls.' The community foundation raised funds to give out a range of small grants which could be used to offer diversionary activities for young people who often got caught up in the violence; to organise outings for pensioners that were suffering stress and fear; to support initiatives that offered mediation or monitoring of sensitive issues; and to provide immediate assistance in the aftermath of riots or bombings. With the agreement of the board of trustees, grants could be turned around and offered very quickly. The Interface Fund distributed �20,000 in 2001, �25,000 in 2002 and is currently working to a budget of �30,000 in 2003.
Community Foundation for Northern Ireland

Idyllic escape from street living
Bristol Methodist Centre is a project working with homeles people. Each day around 60 people call in for support and around 150 meals are provided each week. 'It's an absolutely idyllic escape from the grim realities of street living.' Greater Bristol Foundation granted them �2050, one of over 900 groups to share over �1.5 million from the foundation last year. The grant came from the Bristol Collection Box Scheme, a fund set up by city retailers for shoppers that want to help Bristol's homeless but are reluctant to give to people begging on the street. Grants are distributed by the foundation to support the resettlement of homeless people.
Quartet Community Foundation (covers Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset)

Encouraging groups
Milton Keynes Community Foundation is one of many foundations to offer funding from the European Social Fund, boosted by matching funding from their own resources. With their detailed knowledge of local communities, community foundations are ideally placed to encourage groups that have never before applied for funding. ESF programmes aim to help people progress towards work. 'The grant we received has made a massive difference to our organisation, enabling us to redevelop our patisserie. Macintyre Care's coffee shop gives many people with learning difficulties the opportunity to interact with customers while developing skills and confidence in a busy working environment,' said Annette Coneely.
Milton Keynes Community Foundation

Supporting cutting edge programmes
Benchill in Manchester is the most deprived ward in England. Recently it has been transformed through the efforts of United Estates of Wythenshawe, a professional health and fitness centre created by resident Greg Davies to steer young people towards more constructive lifestyles. Community Foundation for Greater Manchester is committed to making funding available to grassroots community groups and community entrepreneurs such as this and has so far provided �20,000 from a variety of sources, including �8,000 from a regular anonymous donor.
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester

Acting as a catalyst
Blaenllechau Community Regeneration is based in a former mining village in the South Wales valleys, an area which suffers from a high level of deprivation and offers very few opportunities for young people. Sefydliad, the community foundation in Wales, secured a 3 year grant of �115,000 for a youthwork project which encourages teenagers, previously with minimal school attendance, to pursue further training.
Community Foundation in Wales

Making Bread Means Making Opportunities in Aberdee
The Bread Maker is an organic bakery and caf� offering meaningful training and employment for adults in Aberdeen with learning disabilities and special needs.

Up to 20 people each year are offered 2-3 year apprenticeships, equipping them with the opportunity so that after their training, they can seek to move into full or part-time work.

The idea for the project was established through the lack of available training apprenticeship schemes for people with learning disabilities in Aberdeen. In the past, people with learning disabilities could be offered places at Day Centres, but no formal apprenticeship schemes existed that could provide meaningful training opportunities and provide a conduit to paid employment.

The Scottish Community Foundation awarded The Bread Maker a grant of �5000 to part-fund the salary of the Coffee Shop Assistant. Their role is vital to the organisation as not only do they supervise, train and assist the Apprentices in the preparation and sale of baking and drinks for the caf�, but ensure that all the support needs of the Apprentices are met, and that they are equipped to move into the world of work.

This exemplar project is leading the way to significantly improving the lives of people with disabilities in Aberdeen. Not only has there been an increase in Apprentice's confidence, but also a great improvement in their opportunities for future employment, empowering them to take more control of their lives.

Scottish Community Foundation

Combating isolation
A few years ago, Jane Atkinson became deaf. Realising how few services exist for people in her position, Jane worked to set up a support group. With support from County Durham Foundation, Jane has already changed the lives of deafened individuals in her area and now has a vision to set up support groups across the county.
County Durham Foundation (includes Darlington)

Responding in time
Concern over the length of time ambulances took to respond to emergency callls in remote areas led Cumbria Community Foundation to encourage the development of First Responder groups, trained and equipped with defibrillators. They now support nearly half the 33 teams throughout the county.
Cumbria Community Foundation

Jumpstarting play
Herefordshire is a very rural community with low levels of pay, which means that people find difficulty in accessing facilities. Jumpstart provides affordable play activities for children under five in the isolated villages on a round robin basis with the support of a grant from the recently founded Herefordshire Community Foundation
Herefordshire Community Foundation

GEMS kick racism out
Gravesham Ethnic Minority Sport (GEMS) organises multi-ethnic football teams for children. It received a grant from the new Kent Community Foundation for training sessions and a 'Kick Racism out of Sport' event.
Kent Community Foundation

Creating new assets
When Birmingham�s Nechells Baths closed in 1995 the building soon became a dilapidated eyesore. Realising its potential, The Birmingham Foundation raised �3.7 million from European and other sources to restore the landmark building and convert it into an enterprise and community centre � combining physical with �people� regeneration. Due to open next year, the complex will provide a training centre, cr�che, cybercaf� and community meeting rooms. The local community has been involved at every stage from initial planning to learning the traditional craft skills needed for the refurbishment process
Birmingham Community Foundation

Helping people achieve extraordinary things
Back in 2001 with the support of the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester, Louise Chicot set up a fun football club for local youngsters, which rapidly developed into a youth project offering exciting sporting and social activities. Where possible they are accredited to increase individuals� confidence and provide valuable experiences and certificates for those with few academic achievements. Youngsters also undertake community projects such as litter pickups, graffiti removal and garden tidying for older people. True to their vision of helping local people achieve extraordinary things, the foundation has now awarded Louise a strategic development grant enabling her to roll out the Villa Project across Greater Manchester.
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester

Opening doors for local people (1)
Dayspring Supplementary School in Brent, West London organised an inspiring career parade seminar for black youngsters � providing positive role models and creating an avenue through which black youths could buddy with high achievers from a wide range of professions
North West London Community Foundation

Opening doors for local people (2)
The Minority Ethnic Women's Network provides support for women in Swansea, which has one of the largest black and minority ethnic communities in Wales. Sefydliad: The Community Foundation in Wales recently secured funding for their playgroup which helps families to integrate into the community and provides an opportunity for pre-school children to socialise with their peers prior to starting statutory education. This is just one example of the way in which the foundation is committed to addressing the diverse needs of Welsh communities.
Community Foundation in Wales

Tackling disadvantage and exclusion
Beside the seaside � not just a well known song, but an innovative approach to addressing anti-social behaviour and vandalism. Based on Harwich seafront, St-Art is a project set up by an artist-led co-operative with funding from Essex Community Foundation to work with vulnerable and excluded young people. It established a dialogue with them and helped them redesign ten beach huts. As well as new skills in art, team working and negotiation, the young people developed a real sense of achievement and pride in their community.
Essex Community Foundation

Touching the lives of people in need
Robert was labelled a troublemaker, a difficult teenager careering headlong into a bleak future. But today you couldn't meet a nicer young man, charming, polite and full of confidence. Diagnosed with both ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Asperger�s Syndrome, he attends therapy sessions organised by ADD-vance, a Hertfordshire group providing social and employment skills training to young people facing exclusion from school. Many individuals with ADHD and Asperger�s lead highly productive lives but early diagnosis and intervention is critical, so in addition to supporting the work of ADD-Vance, the Hertfordshire Community Foundation has made several grants to enable individual children to have an expert assessment. �Without ADD-vance I would have gone on getting deeper and deeper into trouble,� says Robert
Hertfordshire Community Foundation

Helping community groups to thrive
A group of Liverpool children affected by violence in the home have formed their own pressure group, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, to get a better deal from the statutory services. The children, aged from seven to 17, received a grant from The Community Foundation for Merseyside to develop their Kids A Loud campaign, set up their own helpline and organise �hot seat� sessions with representatives of the statutory services. Founder member Brian, aged 15, says: �Working together is brilliant. It means everything. Help, support, friendship, learning, working together and actually getting the chance to make a difference.�
Community Foundation for Merseyside

Improving the environment
Clow Beck Centre is an environmentally friendly residential education centre for people of all ages � especially 8-14 year-olds � currently under construction near Darlington. Groups will stay in straw bale buildings (see left right etc) and learn to produce their own food and utensils at the centre. With wind-powered electricity and waste-fuelled heating, the centre will have organic orchards, vegetable gardens and farm animals to provide food for students. Local farmer Bill Chaytor, the driving force behind the project, and his wife Karen donated the property and start-up costs, and a �50,000 grant from Tees Valley Community Foundation supports craft workshops
Tees Valley Community Foundation

Making an impact nationally
Building �community capacity� and �social capital� can be just empty jargon unless you happen to live in one of the 71 areas across the UK that are benefiting from Community Foundation Network�s Fair Share Trust programme. Thanks to �50 million of ten-year funding from the Big Lottery Fund, we are able to involve local people in developing strategic grants programmes in some of the UK�s most disadvantaged communities. These areas have, in the past, failed to produce their fair share of lottery-funded projects. One of our key aims is to see the groups we are funding develop the confidence and capacity to work up their ideas and projects to the point where funding can be won and sustainable outcomes delivered that change people�s lives. It is still early days with the programme but already over �1 million has been released to community foundations and other agents to fund strategies endorsed by panels of local people. And as a network we are developing our capacity to deliver sophisticated and innovative programmes consistently across the UK, harnessing the strengths of individual foundations in community-based grantmaking.

Connected campaigning (1)
Chronic ill health, poor lifestyle and lack of exercise sadly characterise North East men. For three years now, Idle Eric campaigns have been providing a humorous slant on what men can do to live a healthier life, focusing this year on swimming and cycling. The campaigns are part of a five-year partnership run by the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland in partnership with Tyne & Wear Health Action Zone, the William Leech Charity and Newcastle Building Society
Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland

Connected campaigning (2)
Under the banner Bringing Merseyside Together, the Community Foundation for Merseyside has just launched the Green Machine, a campaign to tackle the region�s key environmental challenges. This unique campaign operates as a partnership between the foundation, government departments, local authorities, business and community groups throughout the region. Supported by a campaign logo, promotional literature and a dedicated website, the Green Machine programme supports schools, community groups and other local organisations to promote sustainability and tackle environmental degradation, a key issue for the region. The first phase of the Green Machine campaign saw the launch of a new fund to support a range of community-based environmental initiatives. The project is being developed to include training for community groups in project planning and management
Community Foundation for Merseyside

Involving people in their own communities
Nearly 250 local people are involved in deciding how the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester allocates its grants. Volunteer Associate Advisers sit on 10 grant-making panels, one for each borough of Greater Manchester, and bring valuable local knowledge to the table to help the foundation make better-informed decisions. A widely publicised recruitment drive using advertisements and consultation events helped ensure they are representative of the diverse ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds of their areas. Advisers receive continuing support and training from the foundation and are consulted about their role.
Community Foundation for Greater Manchester

Promoting green volunteering
The Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group works with individuals from the Air Cadet Organisation, Scout Association and many families from the local area.

Set up in 2001 their aim is to conserve and maintain wild and urban areas through the education of young people and adults in the principals of conservation,

Through a variety of conservation and environmental tasks such as woodland management, wetland and footpath work, inland and coastal clean ups and many other activities it promotes volunteering in the community with ages ranging from approximately 8 to 77 years.

The Scottish Community Foundation grant of �4,432 is enabling the cadets to build their first bird hide: interpretation panels; and information leaflet in their nature reserve at Glen Dochart in Perthshire.

When completed this will provide a sheltered area for school children, community youth groups and individuals to view the wildlife.

Scottish Community Foundation