Programmes and priorities: Relief

‘The promotion of any charitable purpose for the relief of people who are sick or in need, hardship or distress.’

We will consider requests for staffing, running and capital costs for projects and core services.

Through our own on-going research and consultation, locally and beyond the Borough, we continually develop our grant giving priorities to respond to emerging local needs and opportunities.

Our grant making activities aim:

• to help establish projects that can enable an organisation to prove the value of developing new, or enhancing existing, services to relevant audiences, particularly potential funders and other complementary service providers.
  
  
• to encourage collaborative working between organisations to meet the needs of end beneficiaries. This may include our own involvement with developing funding partnerships at the early stages of a project’s activities.
  
  
• under exceptional circumstances, to assist established local organisations with short-term funding to enable continuity of their services until more sustainable financial support can be secured.

Examples of projects that have been granted awards in recent years:

The Eve Project
Co-ordinator’s Post
£20,000
This new organisation aims to fill a gap in the services and support provided to unpaid carers in the area. The Bedford Charity grant has been put towards the cost of a full-time co-ordinator and running costs in the group’s first year of operation.

Aragon Housing Association
BME Community Housing Liaison Officer
£5,000
Towards the salary of an officer to work with and represent members of BME communities, enabling better liaison between housing providers, statutory agencies and the community members themselves. The worker will aim to ensure BME communities have greater awareness of the variety of housing services available and are able to make more informed choices.

BTCV
Bedford Green Gym Allotment Project
£21,000
This project encourages people from the more deprived wards of Bedford to improve their physical and mental health by volunteering on allotments. A grant spread over three years towards the costs of the project will help participants by providing them with supervised exercise, accredited training and the chance to take home fresh, healthy food. Many of the participants are socially isolated and the green gym enables them to develop friendships in the local community.

Oakley Rural Day Centre for the Elderly
£2,000
The Day Centre was successful with a grant application to the Charity to provide transport to and from the Centre for the frail, elderly and financially poor from villages in N. Bedfordshire. Visitors to the centre are provided with a hot nutritious lunch, companionship, social care and activities that help mobility and mental health.

Bedfordshire County Council
School Uniform Grants
During the last financial year the Charity distributed £8,500 in 425 separate uniform awards to parents of young people that were changing schools. The School Uniform awards are administered by Bedfordshire County Council on behalf of the Charity.

Collaborative Major Projects
Each year, around £100,000 is allocated from the total grant budget towards a ‘Major Project Fund’. This enables the Charity to make significant contributions towards capital projects. These awards are rare, and the Charity will have been involved in the early research, planning and development of the projects with other partners. Examples of these collaborative projects include:

- Child Development Centre £400,000. New Therapy Wing for multi-disciplinary teams to provide co-ordinated care and support for children with disabilities and special needs.

- The Foyer £130,000. Multi-agency project, providing safe, supported accommodation for young people between the ages of 16 and 25, designed to break the ‘no home – no job’ cycle, and to bridge the gap between leaving home or care and living independently.