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Northern Rock Foundation awards over £7m

Communities across the North East and Cumbria have benefited from over £7 million in grants awarded by the Northern Rock Foundation.

The Foundation distributed more grants in 2011 than in the previous year, with 146 voluntary organisations and groups, who support the region’s most vulnerable people, receiving 166 grants worth a total of £7.4 million.

“Tackling disadvantage and improving quality of life in the North East and Cumbria are the core aims of Northern Rock Foundation,” explains Alastair Balls, Foundation Chairman. “With rising poverty and unemployment across our region, the need for the Foundation’s funding and support for voluntary organisations working with disadvantaged people has become more important than ever.”

Details of the awards are contained in the Northern Rock Foundation Annual Review 2011, which includes not only the Foundation’s funding support for voluntary organisations, but also its research projects, advocacy and policy work, and training programmes.

The Foundation’s work ranges from support for organisations which work with people with mental health problems to projects which help people to manage their finances better. Among the Foundation’s beneficiaries in 2011 was Tyneside Mind which supports people with mental health problems. The Foundation’s £39,368 grant will help expand its work both with new services – such as a walking group - and into North Tyneside, by funding a part-time development worker. Similarly, a £131,800 grant to Fincan – Financial Inclusion and Capability North East – will allow the member-led organisation, which promotes financial well-being, to employ its first regional development manager to expand its work, in particular by developing a financial inclusion strategy.

The Foundation also supports work on challenging or complex problems such as sexual exploitation and the GAP Project in Newcastle run by The Cyrenians, received £24,901 for its work with both women and men involved in the sex industry.

Alastair Balls, Foundation Chairman pointed out: “Our detailed knowledge of some of the region’s most pressing social problems combined with our regional overview gives us a unique perspective and the Foundation is an increasingly important source of continuity, knowledge and expertise at a time when many other regional organisations are changing or disappearing.”

The report takes a new format this year, including case studies which give an in-depth view of some of the work that the Foundation supports while also demonstrating the role that the Foundation plays in helping the voluntary sector to develop and become sustainable.

“During 2011 the Foundation worked hard to create maximum benefit and impact from its funding and the support it offers to voluntary organisations,” said Penny Wilkinson, the Foundation’s Chief Executive, adding: “While grant-making remains at the heart of our role, we also put a strong emphasis on training and development support.”

Voluntary organisations and social enterprises wanting to apply to the Northern Rock Foundation can obtain more information by visiting its website at: www.nr-foundation.org.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michelle Blow .