Our friends at Citizens Advice in East Dorset & Purbeck say in their latest newsletter that in the last quarter of 25/26 they've helped 2,111 people with 7,368 issues and helped them gain £721,429 in benefits and tax credits.
What a fantastic resource they are for our communities.
Could they help someone you know?
In Mental Health Awareness Week, where the theme is Action, we salute the dozens of grass roots groups and charities we support who use walking, talking, swimming, surfing, making, cooking, dancing and creating to help their beneficiaries improve, maintain or recover their wellbeing.
You are all amazing.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, with the theme of Action.
Our Community Wellbeing and Mental Health Fund, working with NHS Dorset, Community Action Network and Access Wellbeing Hubs, awarded almost £1 million in grants to groups supporting thousands of people combating mental health issues.
Read our new impact report via the link in our bio. ⬆️
Thanks to our donors, a £2,000 grant from our Neighbourhood Fund is helping the Friends of East Cliff and Springbourne run a weekly drop-in with activities at Springbourne Library that boost wellbeing, reduce isolation, and build community connections.
Says Cllr Sara Armstrong for East Cliff and Springbourne: "Last week's session was very relaxing and calming, plus it was so great to connect with others. Especially post Covid, reconnecting with ourselves and others is so important for our wellbeing."
This is the power of local giving in action. 💪
Our BCP Crisis and Resilience Fund with will support grass roots groups and charities with grants of up to £7.5k for one year or £15k for three years to lift people out of poverty and help build them a stronger future.
Find out more and how to apply via the link in our bio. ⬆️
Thanks to our donors, a £5,000 grant from our Neighbourhood Fund to #Gillingham Youth Club paid for staff, hall hire and other costs to give organisers the certainty to plan a year's activities for young people who would otherwise be isolated.
That's local giving in action. 💪
When jeweller Becky Walker's business was stalling because she couldn't afford the equipment she needed to expand her range, our £1,000 SWEF Enterprise Fund grant helped her.
Now her business is sparkling.
Find out how the fund could help your business via the link in our bio. ⬆️
Thanks to the Bournemouth Daily Echo and Dorset View for writing about our BCP Council Crisis and Resilience Fund, which has grants of up to £7.5k for a year or £15k for multi-years and is open for applications until June 4.
Read more about eligibility and how to apply via the link in our bio. ⬆️
Vivien Barnard was passionate about Dorset so when she died her sister Susan felt setting up a fund with us in her name was a way of honouring that.
Four years on, the Vivien Barnard Fund has awarded thousands of pounds that have positively impacted communities across the county.
We are very proud that Vivien’s family chose us to honour what she would have wanted done with her estate – it’s a perfect example of local giving in action.
Talk to us about how a gift in your will could do that via the link in our bio. ⬆️
Today we're proud to launch a new fund, the £425,000 BCP Crisis and Resilience Fund, with BCP Council. It will support groups and grass roots charities to lift people out of poverty and help build them a stronger future with one and multi-year grants. Read more and find out how to apply via the link in our bio. ⬆️
Gardener James Ball's business in #Bridport was going well but being unable to afford all the right tools meant he had to turn some jobs down.
A £1,300 grant from our SWEF Enterprise Fund fixed that and now his business is growing as well as the gardens he tends.
Find out how a SWEF grant could help you via the link in our bio. ⬆️
We've been making grants for 25 years in #Dorset but we'll never stop looking at how we award funds to ensure that what we do is open, trustworthy and easy to follow for the grass roots voluntary groups we support.
Read about what we've done here via the link in our bio. ⬆️
