by John Harris | Sep 1, 2024 | news
We worked with Fusion Housing over a period of a year – here is what the CEO, Director of Operations and Director of Business have to day about us: ‘We’ve worked in partnership with Rachel and John to raise nearly £400,000 over the past year for our Food and More project. We’ve found them helpful, responsive and available to support us where needed. They’ve guided us in selecting appropriate funders; provided support in liaising with funders; advised us on consultation and budgeting; and written successful applications. We envisage a very positive impact from the new funding, which will make a real difference in the lives of our service users.’
by John Harris | Jul 29, 2024 | news
We have been working with Abigail Housing for around 3 years now. Our latest success in supporting them in securing a grant for £20,000 – towards the costs of their Bradford Drop-In. The Bradford Destitution Project Provides housing and support to people seeking asylum who are homeless and destitute who are working with a legal representative to re-engage with the asylum process. These are individuals facing homelessness who are among the most vulnerable in our society as they are left completely destitute with no legal entitlement to any resources with serious risk to their physical and mental health. The project currently supports 15 people in 4 shared houses in Bradford. A key part of the support we provide is through the Drop-in. Here people can collect food and toiletries parcels, the cash allowance we are able to give and updates on their asylum case. Staff and volunteers keep in touch with individuals, check on their wellbeing and make referrals, particularly around health and wellbeing issues e.g. to Bevan Health Care. This grant will contribute towards the salaries of the support staff – providing advice, support, overseeing the drop-in sessions, supporting the Experts by Experience Group and managing and supporting the volunteers.
by John Harris | Jul 13, 2024 | news
We are delighted to say that our work in supporting Otley Courthouse has resulted in a grant of £20,000 a great result as the Courthouse is a recent client for us and it’s always good to get that first result! Otley Courthouse is a local arts and resource centre offering a varied programme of community activities. Each week they host many groups and classes including: exercise classes, a community choir, chair-based yoga, Pilates, knitting, Under 5’s group and a dementia group. Our community café is open daily. They host a number of community groups including Otley Maker Space, Wharfedale Men’s Shed as well as a monthly craft fair, Otley Green Fair, an Arts Festival and Science Festival and school holiday activities for children and offer part time work and volunteering for young people.The grant will fund one staff member to co-ordinate volunteers. Over 12 months, they will train and support 80 volunteers including training 30 new ones. The training will be open to partner organisations and other community groups, providing networking opportunities. This will enable volunteers to run events, classes, deliver admin and publicity, and welcoming people, all whilst developing themselves.
by John Harris | Jul 13, 2024 | news
John has been supporting Together Dementia Support for two years now. They are based in Manchester and support both people with dementia and their carers – knowing that the wellbeing of those with dementia very much depends on the wellbeing of the carers. TDS has just been awarded £60,000 over 2 years from the Garfield Weston Foundation – to contribute to the running costs of the charity which supports around 1000 people each year.
by John Harris | Jun 29, 2024 | news
John has been supporting a London client – helping their team of 4 fundraisers develop their skills – through reviewing their draft funding applications and sharoing an assessment with them of the areas that can be strengthened. So far this has helped them to successes with a Sport England grant of £11,500 (for dance and movement with girls) and £30,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation (for running costs). The Director said “I want to thank you for your input into our applications…It was clearly a good investment on our part! And we are obviously working with the right professional!” This work is part of a process where John identifies the issues arsing from these reviews and will turn these into a training session or two.
by John Harris | May 28, 2024 | news
Today we heard that our extensive work over the last several months in support of a multi year grant for a West Yorkshire housing association has been successful. They have been awarded £313,000 over the next 3 years to develop and run their food and wrap around skills development project. This is all about equipping people to learn more of the skills needed to manage on a low income (budgeting, accessing benefits entitlements) , eat healthily and cheaply – as well as developing more of the confidence and esteem which make for a positive state of mental well-being. Surveys informed by TSC were used to assess the need for support with budgeting and wellbeing – as well as a strong need for support with employability, housing advice, benefits advice, volunteering opportunities and advice. This survey showed a very strong need for help with accessing furniture and white goods. All of these areas were identified as being key steps in helping people be more independent and not relying on food parcels in the future. This a huge result for Third Sector Consultancy – with special recognition for Rachel who led on this work for us – well done!
by John Harris | Apr 19, 2024 | news
As is well know accessing funding for core costs can be challenging. Hence the importance of those funders who will consider this. We have achieved a two year grant amounting to £60,000 for Stanley Grange – to cover core costs – from the wonderful Garfield Weston Foundation. This work is done by John as an associate of Moneytree Fundraising and brings the total raised to £845,000 over 5 years! Most of this funding has been to refurbish the houses for the 42 adults with severe learning disabilities. All residents get to say how they want their new en suite bathrooms or wet rooms – as well as how they want the decor and furniture. Their reports are that they are very happyt with this – including the young female Blackburn Rovers fan whose decor reflects her team!
by John Harris | Apr 6, 2024 | news
We are carrying out a range of consultation and involvement processes with Otley Action – to ensure that the organisation knows what the needs are for older people, what the impact of the support provided is and that all key stakeholders can give their independent feedback – all making sure that the charity is on track. The first consultation event was with 15 volunteers earlier this week – asking them what the challenges are that older people face; which ones Otley Action should focus on; what they get out of volunteering and any suggestions for developing and clarifying the role of volunteer. It was a lively session with a good number of insights and suggestions coming through – more detail n this in a later post. We will also be consulting with the members (the older people using the services), staff, trustees, the public and exteranl agencies e.g. commissioners, MP, health centres etc. Thin will all feed into a report including both observations and suggestions for development.
by John Harris | Mar 28, 2024 | news
As from February we are working with two new clients: Otley Courthouse and the Bridge Church. Otley Courthouse is 20 years old this May and provides a wide range of arts, cultural and community activities – through a small staff team and a much larger team of volunteers of all ages. The Courthouse are keen to develop a stronger Volunteer Co-ordinator role, for much needed new equipment and to raise funds for core costs. The Bridge Church is a United Reformed Church in Otley (Leeds) and provides a good range of community support services as well as being a place of worship. Funds are needed for a new roof and the remodel and refurbish a much used community room.
by John Harris | Mar 28, 2024 | news
We are pleased to report that this grant from the Clothworker’s Foundation means that all the £90,000 has been raised for a new, bespoke minibus for this charity supporting older people in Otley and the surrounding area. Part of the process included supporting staff in consulting with the volunteers and members to find out what kind of features the new minibus should have. We have helped Otley Action before in consulting with stakeholders and are about to do so again – with members, volunteers, staff, trustees and external partners.
