Our final Strong Foundations Grants awarded for 2022

Our final Strong Foundation Grants have been awarded across our Southern Region for 2022.

With a £25,000 total, the grants were split into sub regions: Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham, Oxford/Reading, and Birmingham. Congratulations to the following organisations that have been awarded a share of this fund: 

Cambridge

• The C3 Centre in Cambridge offers a range of support services to disadvantaged people. This includes providing over 200 cooked meals each week for those attending their food support services. The funding will go towards equipping their food van with catering equipment. This will allow them to serve an estimated 400 local people living in areas of deprivation within Cambridge and provide a training environment to assist two people every six months to obtain permanent catering positions. 
  
  
• Red2Green has been providing day opportunities for people with learning disabilities and/or autism for 20 years, running several services 50 weeks a year, five days a week. The funding will go towards projects in the Community Garden (pictured below), where they support clients with complex learning disabilities and autism to access education, life skills and employment. They impart the importance of climate change and zero waste as part of these sessions. 

Bristol

• Ignite Life takes action to reduce the causes and repair the consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s). In England, 42 young people on average are permanently excluded from school every day. The funding will provide ~45 mentoring sessions which will support young people to re-engage with school or access other courses, particularly to those without a support structure at home or at school. 
  
  
• St Werburghs City Farm (pictured below) is a green urban oasis in the heart of Bristol, forming an integral part of the local community, strengthening connections between land, animals and people for over 40 years. The funding will go towards transforming an underused, overlooked, and inaccessible space into a ‘Green Kitchen’. This will be used by an estimated 750 people per year whilst supporting wildlife and pollinators. 

Nottingham

• Himmah is a grassroots community-based organisation working on issues of poverty, race and educational inequalities. The funding will support their foodbank, and their ‘People’s Pantry’, a social supermarket that supports families on low incomes. Debt management, budget training and referrals to other support organisations are a part of this service. 
  
  
• The African Women’s Empowerment Forum (AWEF, pictured below) is a social enterprise working to develop African women in communities, many of whom are migrants, refugees, or asylum seekers. The funding will engage 120 women with the Wellness and Recovery Action Plan workshops, and concurrent dance sessions to help both mental and physical health. 

Oxford/Reading

• Nature Nurture (pictured below) is on a mission to support wellbeing and wildlife by connecting people with parks, woodlands and waterways on their doorstep. They have been delivering nature engagement activities for over 10 years in and across Reading. The funding will go towards hosting two family friendly nature connections events at the Holy Brook Nook green space along the waterway. 
  
  
• Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground operates in an area of Oxford with high obesity levels in children and where many residents are in the lowest 10% in the country for educational skills and attainment. They run programmes that support healthy living through food and exercise, plus other critical life skills. The funding will support activities that include families, giving a wider choice of food, and family friendly gardening, physical activity and visits out. 
  
  
• Dingley’s Promise delivers life changing support to under-fives with special education needs and disabilities, and their families. The funding will cover a day trip to Beale Park in West Berkshire, for 38 children and their parents/carer. The aim of the day will provide a much-needed opportunity for these children to experience being outside in the 350-acre estate, aiding physical and emotional wellbeing. 

Birmingham

• GINA is a social enterprise offering opportunities and support for individuals subjected to sexual violence and abuse. Led by women with lived experience of sexual trauma, they provide immediate, specialist counselling and bespoke resources for survivors of sexual abuse. The funding will pay for 250 copies of a bespoke specialist resource to be given to women subjected to sexual violence and abuse. 
  
  
• The Other Way Works (pictured below) is an award winning, immersive theatre company. It is a female led organisation based out of Birmingham. The funding will go towards providing transformative, interactive experiences to children aged 7-11 and their grandparents, particularly those of South Asian heritage living in areas of economic deprivation. The focus will be education about climate change, delivered through a creative storytelling lens which encourages interaction and empowerment through participation. 
  
  
• Inspired 2 Connect provides a range of business support services to new and existing businesses, offering free information, advice and guidance on a range of topics. The funding will go towards a community CV service, engaging with unemployed people in areas of deprivation in Birmingham, and support them in creating updated CVs, cover letters, personal statements and help with job searching. This will include both face to face and online sessions. 

Congratulations to all our Strong Foundations Grants recipients for 2022!