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News Monthly Grants: celebrating community support this festive season

Monthly Grants: celebrating community support this festive season

In the lead up to Christmas, Benefact Trust has awarded over £250,000 to churches and charities across the UK and Ireland.

It’s a time for giving, and we’re delighted to be supporting a variety of incredible projects through our Community Impact and Building Improvement grants programmes.

Here are some of the recent projects to receive a festive funding boost:

Community Impact Grants

Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury, Wirral, Merseyside

Caritas is the social action agency of the Diocese of Shrewsbury, building stronger communities in disadvantaged areas. 

Caritas currently employs a Community Builder who focuses on outreach, but there are many more vulnerable people living in the community that haven’t yet been reached due to capacity.

A Community Impact Grant of £4,600 will help to employ an intern to expand current activities such as the Edible Project, where local people grow food for themselves and other members of the community. The intern will also help to set up new projects such as a Food Club and a Repair Café, where the community can gather and repair items together, learning new skills while repurposing old things.

Borderline Counselling Services, Carlisle, Cumbria

Recent statistics reveal that the number of people waiting for community mental health care has risen to 1.2 million. Charities like Borderline Counselling Services are working to bridge that gap by providing counselling to adults across a broad range of issues. 

The ongoing cost of living crisis has put undue pressure on everyone and has exacerbated mental health issues for those already struggling. The charity’s volunteer counsellors have worked at capacity in 2024, dedicated to supporting this increase in demand.

A Community Impact Grant of £5,700 will help Borderline Counselling Services to help even more clients in 2025 with valuable talking therapies.

Newcastle Upon Tyne YMCA

YMCA’s supported housing project is providing 15 vulnerable children, aged 16 to 17, with a warm welcome as they arrive in Newcastle, alone. These children may have faced traumatic experiences in their home counties or during their journey and it is essential they have a supportive environment when they arrive.

The charity offers the children 24-hour assistance, educational integration, life skills, employability support and accommodation.

A grant of £3,800 will help to provide the young people with essential items to ensure they feel safe, comfortable and welcomed at a time when they will feel scared and lonely.

Building Improvement Grants

St Mark's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh

St Mark’s Episcopal Church was built in 1826 and was one of the first Anglican churches to be built in the Diocese of Edinburgh. It has unique architecture and is an excellent example of how Anglican worship has changed over the last 200 years.

The church is home to a vibrant worshipping congregation and is widely used by community groups, but in 2014 essential renovation work was identified to bring the church up to 21st Century standards.

A five-stage project will improve the church’s ecological footprint, increase flexibility and create a welcoming space for all so that the building can continue to serve its community for another 200 years.

Phase 1 has been completed and there is now safe ramp access to the church. A £10,500 Building Improvement Grant will support phase 2, which will involve repairing and renovating the main church space.

St Mary with St George Church, Hornsey, London

St Mary with St George Church has made accessibility a main priority for the next 60 years, following the first 60 years in this beautiful building. The church’s aim is to break down the visible and invisible barriers that prevent access for people with disabilities. 

After setting up an Inclusion Group, the church commissioned an audit from the Centre for Accessible Environments. The audit suggested a number of recommendations to improve the accessibility of the building.

Improving access to the building will enable the church to reach more older, disadvantaged members of the community. Statistics show that its parish includes places which are in the lowest 10% of areas for pensioner poverty. This is particularly worrying due to the cost of living crisis and means that the church’s activities are more important than ever.

A £6,500 Building Improvement Grant will help the church to implement some of the accessible recommendations, such as installing automatic sliding doors, creating a sloped entrance for wheelchair users, and shortened pews to make space for wheelchairs.

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