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, one of the fastest growing philanthropic movements in the UK.
STOP PRESS….OUR RESPONSE TO COVID!
One year on from the start of the pandemic, we have supported Worcestershire’s communities by:
- Distributing £750,000 of funding to support 150+ community projects across the county in response to the 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
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
£ 2000000 +
Total grants
(2013-19)
£ 650000
Total grants (2020)
£ 4333
Average Grant size
150 +
Number of grants
(2020)
Feedback
Catshill Food Bank“We cannot express enough what your help has meant. Our usual routes of donations dried up and without the financial support we wouldn’t have been able to continue. Your contribution to this has been so helpful for us.”
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
Kelda White Youth Activities Coordinator, Malvern CubeMalvern Cube Projects is delighted to receive a grant from the Tampon Tax Fund as it is enabling us to reach out to young women in Malvern. Our first stage is to provide a safe space for young women to meet and this will lead onto the delivery of sessions to meet their needs in terms of raising physical, emotional and sexual health, training to encourage peer support and distribution of free sanitary products.
Helen Gill The Monday Night ClubI just wanted to touch base with you to tell you what an amazing difference the Tampon Tax funding has made to us at The Monday Night Club this year. It enabled us to find (and afford) a great new venue at Worcester Arts Workshop. We have a wonderful group of young female volunteers who are all enjoying their new responsibilities and taking part in training we have arranged.
Faith Sanderson CEO of Worcester Community Trust“With hundreds of women and children supported through our domestic abuse support service DAWN each year, we are delighted to be able to offer the Survivors Network: a peer led network to build confidence, skills and offer support to families. Thank you to Worcestershire Community Foundation for making this vital work possible!”
Our Supporters
