What is Worcestershire Community Foundation?
We are an independent charity and the Community Foundation for Worcestershire. We are part of a national network of 47 Community Foundations and the UK’s fourth largest funding body.
During 20/21 we have supported Worcestershire’s communities by:
- Distributing £750,000 of funding to support 150+ community projects across the county in response to the pandemic crisis
- Distributing £240,000 of funding to support vulnerable families and individuals in the Wychavon, Worcester City and Malvern Hills areas via local community groups, schools and foodbanks
- Providing seed funding to support key local infrastructure projects including Mental Health, Digital and Youth projects
- Raising £100,000 + of local funding from generous donors and supporters which will go towards future recovery of the county
- Giving out £450,000 of funding to support communities suffering longer Covid impacts including mental health & wellbeing, disability, isolation and domestic abuse.
We would like to say a huge thank you to all the organisations and individuals who have helped us to support Worcestershire at this very difficult time; we are looking forward to continuing to support the voluntary and community sector during the long recovery period that lies ahead.
What we do
We are a charitable hub for the whole county – dedicated to helping to ensure that Worcestershire is a place to thrive by supporting and providing a voice for the voluntary and community sector. During the pandemic we have to date given out Covid response grants totalling over £0.9 million to more than 200 local organisations.
Who are we?
Our people are one of the most important elements of our work in Worcestershire
We are a streamlined organisation which operates in a very lean way to ensure that our overheads are kept to a minimum, enabling us to dedicate maximum resource to our grant programmes to benefit the County.
Our team comprises a voluntary board of 11 local trustees working with a part-time Development Director. We are proud to have a long-standing President Patrick Holcroft, who is the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, and a number of well-known voluntary Patrons who support us in many ways. Many of our trustees and patrons sit on the boards of other local charities; all our team are long-term residents of Worcestershire and have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the county and its needs.
Our grant administration and back office functions are outsourced to Malvern-based organisation Community First part of the ACRE network, who are well established in supporting the voluntary and community sectors across Worcestershire and surrounding counties.
Our Impact
£ 3500000 +
Total grants
(2013-21)
£ 1500000
Total grants (2020/2021)
£ 4285
Average Grant size
350 +
Number of grants
(2020/2021)
Feedback
New College WorcesterOur WCF grant was to support our students Mental Health & Wellbeing. The project is still on-going and is proving to be very successful. Students can easily access support and one of the key points to come out is that ‘it is good to talk’. As a result the students now have an excellent support network, which is great news.
Ourside Youth CenterThe grant provided by WCF enabled us to react quickly and redesign our services during COVID-19. This meant we could respond to the needs of the young people and their families in our community. It meant they still had a consistent place for support by people they knew and trusted. With the situation changing constantly it meant we were able to stay in contact with the young people and help the navigate their feelings and experiences so they knew that someone was always looking out for them.
Young People Comments
‘Ourside has made lockdown a lot less daunting and the posts have been super helpful and up lifting”
‘ The letters and packages gave me something to do and brightened my day’
‘I’m glad we are still in contact because we help each other with any struggles. It’s really helped me take my mind off issues and have fun’
‘ I have been able to stay connected to familiar faces and keep some sort of routine’
Worcester Warriors“The funding from the Covid response fund was incredibly important as it has meant that the Warriors Community Foundation has been able to continue to deliver most of its projects when times have allowed and maintain constant contact with participants. Last summer we continued practical delivery throughout and thanks to the grant were able to support many people through our wide range of projects. We are pleased to say that currently all of our projects are already up and running or due to be very soon. We would like to thank Worcestershire Community Foundation for their support that has meant we are able to offer vital sports sessions to our participants which have contributed to better mental health and well-being for them.”
Government 2018Place-based giving is a partnership between communities, philanthropists, corporate donors and local organisations, local authorities and national funders that bring together resources in a collaborative way to benefit the community in a defined geographic location
Evesham Volunteer Centre“I would like to say a huge thank you to Worcestershire Community Foundation for their very generous grant which has gone towards enabling us to carry out our community delivery and befriending services during the pandemic to the people of Evesham and the rural vale. We would certainly not have been able to do all we have done without your support.”
Our Supporters
