by John Harris | Dec 1, 2023 | news
We’ve had challenges and fun working on a very detailed application to the Heritage Lottery Fund – working closely with ecoACTIVE’s CEO. The Hackney Buzzline is an exciting project aiming to set up a 4 kilometre ‘buzzline’ for bees.The Hackney Buzzline will be a four kilometre ecological corridor extending through and between four east London parks. The parks are all local sites of importance for nature conservation. The corridor will be built by sowing wildflower meadows, planting flower beds and creating ‘stepping-stone’ habitats for pollinators every 100-200 metres along the route. Fingers crossed for this one, please!
by John Harris | Nov 3, 2023 | news
A much needed new minibus for Together Dementia Support in Manchester just got much closer. John has worked on an application to the Clothworker’s Foundation and just heard that this has yielded £27,500! Having two minibuses is essential in order to support people with dementia and their carers getting to social, leisure and learning activities which all keep people going. As one member said: “Attending TDS groups is a lifeline for me and my husband. We don’t have a car and our children are all at work. Also my husband’s walking is now very poor so we couldn’t walk to a bus stop. Without transport he wouldn’t be able to attend the groups that give him friendship and the stimulation so important to people with dementia. I would also lose the brief periods of respite that enable me to keep going.”
by John Harris | Oct 3, 2023 | news
It’s always wonderful when a bigger grant comes through! This £65,000 is a contribution from a foundation supporting the refurbishment of three smaller houses at Stanley Grange – the residential community for adults with severe learning disabilities in Lancashire. John (working as a Moneytree associate) liases with the Manager there and one of the trustees so we can celebrateb this success together. Over nearly 5 years working with Stanley Grange we have raised almost £750,000!
by John Harris | Aug 26, 2023 | news
In August we heard that our work on behalf of Bierley Community centre in Bradford had paid off – they were awarded £95,000 funding over 3 years from the National Lottery Community Fund. This is to support their work in this area which faces many challenges and is much deserved. Third Sector Consultancy has now raised over £300,000 for Bierley Community centre – to cover a period of 3 years. It is very satsifying to be able to support a charity to get to a point of being sustainable.
by John Harris | Jun 30, 2023 | news
As an associate with Moneytree Fundraising John supports Stanley grange with its fundraising – mostly for the capital refurbishment of all the houses for the 42 adult residents with severe learning difficulties. Recently, Joh has raised £12,500 which has paid for an outdoors specialist gym for the residents – and it’s proving very popular! there will be pictures soon.
by John Harris | Jun 30, 2023 | news
Another £10,000 grant was secured to help Otley Action for Older People raise the £80,000 needed for a custom minibus – so important to transport members to and from activities at the refurbished centre. They are getting near to the target figure – with our help. Otley Action also take a lead in bringing together a range of community groups and organisations to network and find ways to work together to support all sections of the community in Otley.
by John Harris | Jun 30, 2023 | news
We have just facilitated an Away Day with the 8 trustees and 2 of the staff from Nightstop – supporting young people at a point of crisis through homelessness. They are a fabulous group of passionate and committed people to work with. One of the trustees had just, with a lot of support from others, run a consultation event with 20 young people taking part – yielding a lot of information and suggestions about how young people can be supported onwards in their lives. The day was very useful in identifying the potential strategic aims for the charity and what key objectives would sit under these.
by John Harris | Jun 30, 2023 | news
We have been working steadily and effectively in support of ecoACTIVE in Hackney, London. Mainly, we are supporting their fundraising to develop the 18 Community Gardens across Hackney and Newham – as well as their Forest schools. So far for 2023 we have supported them in raising £115,000: £40,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation (over 2 years), £17,500 from the Hiscox Foundation, £10,000 from L&Q, £23,000 from the Portal Trust and just recently £25,000 from the OVO Foundation. We will now be working with ecoACTIVE to fundraise for a 4 kilometre ‘Buzzline’ – a pollination friendly corridor – through Hackney – very exciting!
by John Harris | Mar 25, 2023 | news
Our work with this small environmental charity in Hackney has been developing over the past 2 – 3 years – working closely with the CEO there. There are big smiles all round at the moment as we have helped secure £90,000 in grants over the last three months – from trusts and one corporate donor. We really want to do our bit to support their work with young children through Forest Schools – and with local residents working to develop 18 Community Gardens out of derelict or neglected spaces. Many local people are themselves developing the skills needed to manage the gardens and to make them thrive through planting and growing trees, fruits and vegetables – making these spaces beautiful and useful for the community.
by John Harris | Mar 16, 2023 | news
As an associate for Moneytree Fundraising John has been working with SGCA for 4 years – mostly for funds to refurbish all of the houses for adults with severe learning disabilities. We have now raised all of the funds needed for Pendle & Weavers houses (£460,000) – with a funder known to SGCA visiting and coming up with the remaining funds needed – £91,000. Not only this, but the trustees have indicated strong support for continuing support for Stanley Grange – through Phase 8 (three smaller houses) and then to setting up a social enterprise on site. It shows the value of maintaining and developing the relationship with a funder, where possible, and how easily people fall in love with Stanley Grange when they visit. By the way, there is a programme called the Tool Box on Channel 4 all this week (13-16 March) which features the makeover of the neglected garden/allotment area there – worth a watch!
