10th anniversary - April 2009

DIRECTOR’S BLOG
Andrew Beeforth’s Cumbria Life article

see also the website http://www.cumbrialife.co.uk

April 2009

This month my own organisation, the Cumbria Community Foundation, celebrates its 10th
anniversary. So I’m being a little self indulgent and sharing the story of an organisation that I hope you agree has become an increasingly important part of Cumbria Life.

Firstly I should say what we do – it’s very simple – the Community Foundation makes grants to good causes. We do this because we want to help people in need and make Cumbria a better place to live and work. Since 1999 we’ve given out more than £11.5m to more than 2,000 groups and over 2,000 individuals. From Bewcastle to Barrow in Furness and from Dent to Burgh by Sands people have felt the benefit of the Foundation’s grants.

We’ve grown quite a lot since those early days. In the beginning we had one fund and gave away £24,000. Last year we managed over forty different grant funds, making grants worth over £1.3m to over 500 groups and 200 people. We’re only able to give money out because people and organisations choose to give money into the community through the Foundation.

Like all charities the Community Foundation came into being as the result of discussions amongst like minded people. We owe a debt of gratitude to John Spedding, Arthur Sanderson and the other founding trustees – thank you. British Nuclear Fuels then set the ball rolling with a founding donation of £1m.

Our first big contribution to Cumbrian life came in 2001, when we launched an appeal to help people affected by the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. We raised over £2.1m and made grants to groups and individuals which provided emotional, practical and financial help to hundreds of families.

When the storms and floods hit Cumbria in January 2005 we responded again, raising over £800k and co-ordinated much of the charitable recovery effort.

In between disasters we’ve developed new permanent sources of funding, creating funds such as the Kipling Fund for the elderly, the income from which makes grants to projects benefiting older people. The Violet Laidlaw Fund is a more recent example. Violet was a Cumbrian who always cared for the needs of the homeless and her money is already making a difference to people who have no permanent home.

Anyone can give through the Foundation. International companies like HSBC Bank have a fund with the Foundation as well as local businesses and families.

We’re marking our birthday by launching a new 10th Anniversary Fund. This is a fund is aimed at supporting the cost of new events which celebrate community life. We want the fund to spark new connections and hopefully create new community wide traditions. Small grants of £500-£1,000 are available. However competition will be fierce because we’ve only set aside £10,000 for the fund.

For more information visit www.cumbriafoundation.org

Cumbria Grassroots Endowment Challenge Update – Year two begins

The Grassroots Endowment Challenge is seeking to raise money to build permanent grant making funds at the Community Foundation. What’s better is the Government is matching all local donations. These permanent funds are invested and the income used to make grants to local charities – in perpetuity. We welcome donations of all sizes to our main Cumbria Fund and for people able to donate larger sums they can create their own fund.

We’re seeking to raise £1m by March 2011. Year two of the appeal has got off to a good start with a donation of £10,000 from the steel stockists Thomas Graham. Thomas Graham is building a grant fund to support children and young people’s activities throughout Cumbria.

How the scheme works

For every £2 you give the Government will add £1 through the Challenge. If you pay tax and use Gift Aid then £2 becomes £2.56. Add in the match and the fund receives £3.82.

For more visit www.cumbriafoundation.org
© Copyright 2009 Cumbria Community Foundation
All rights reserved 28/05/2009
Registered charity 1075120