FOURTEEN COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS SHARE IN £21,000 WINDFALL

Fourteen community groups across Norfolk, north Suffolk and east Cambridgeshire are celebrating after learning that they are to share in a combined £21,000 windfall, following the latest round of grants from Lovewell Blake’s LB150 Fund.

The money was raised over the past 12 months by staff and partners at the leading regional chartered accountants, business advisers and financial planners.

A wide range of charities, voluntary groups and community organisations have received grants ranging from £940 to £2,000, to assist a variety of community activities.  The grants were decided by a panel of Lovewell Blake staff, assisted by the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Community Foundations, which administer the LB 150 Fund.

Organisations receiving grants were:

• East Anglia Anchorage Trust in Great Yarmouth, which received £2,000 to run a six week ‘Cash Smart’ programme to teach young people skills for managing their finances
• Great Yarmouth & Waveney Mind, which also received £2,000 to help fund days out for carers who are looking after someone with mental health problems
• Open Road West Norfolk in King’s Lynn, which was given a grant of £2,000 to repair guttering on their building to stop water damage to a computer room used by young people
• TOPCATS in Lowestoft, which received £2,000 to support the organisation’s afternoon club for children and young people with disabilities
• Waveney Domestic Violence & Abuse Forum, also in Lowestoft, received £2,000 to provide a trauma therapy service to those impacted by domestic and sexual abuse
• 1^st Caister Scout Group, which received a grant of £1,720 to purchase a new camp kitchen for use when Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers go away
• Little Miracles CIO in Ely, which received £1,500 to provide role play kitchen equipment to increase the understanding of social skills for children with additional needs, especially those with autism
• The Hub Community Project in Wymondham, which received a grant of £1,315 to support their ‘Meeting point’ project, a weekly drop-in group for those who are lonely or isolated
• Luvely in Ely, which received £1,270 to provide a new oven to increase the capacity of their lunch club for elderly and isolated people
• The Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Norfolk in Norwich, which received £1,255 to purchase equipment for physiotherapy sessions
• 4Cs (Centres for Christian Care and Counselling) in Norwich, which received £1,000 to equip new counselling rooms to meet rising demand for their counselling support
• ENYP in Norwich, which received a grant of £1,000 to help fund its ‘defenders’ clubs for 5-11 year-olds
• The Friday Club in Holt, which received £1,000 to help with running costs for the weekly luncheon club for frail old people
• Filby Playing Field Committee, which received £940 to purchase outside seating for the new community centre

“We are delighted to be able to support so many wonderful organisations which are doing such great work in our communities,” said Gary Flatt, Lovewell Blake’s CSR partner.  “Community groups like these are the glue which binds our communities, and that is why our staff and partners participate so enthusiastically in our fundraising efforts across the year.

“It is these smaller, possibly less well-known organisations working at grassroots level in our communities which make such a difference, and the success of our fundraising means that we have been able to give out more in grants this year than last.”

Lovewell Blake’s LB150 Fund was originally set up in 2008 as part of the firm’s 150^th anniversary celebrations, with the aim of raising £150,000 for local charities and community groups in five years.  The firm announced earlier this year that its ongoing fundraising efforts had seen the Fund exceed the £200,000 mark since its foundation.