by John Harris | Sep 24, 2025 | news
“Thank you John for all the brilliant support you have given us over the past since last winter. It has been such a pleasure working with you, and I am truly grateful for the time, expertise, and strategic insight you have brought to our fundraising work.Your contribution has made a real difference, not just in terms of the funds raised – which speak for themselves, but also in helping shape our approach and sharpen our case for support. I have learned a great deal from working alongside you, and it has been incredibly helpful having your input during this period.”
by John Harris | Sep 6, 2025 | news
The primary vision for Hammersley Homes in Hampshire is to provide ongoing, lifelong support to people with enduring mental health issues. In recent decades there were psychiatric day centres and supported accommodation in psychiatric hostels. These are long gone leaving many people with only short-term support, vulnerable and becoming hospitalised, homeless, or unfairly imprisoned. Their plans are to maintain and develop the Outreach programme which provides consistent home visits and support – and to run regular group Connections sessions so that people are supported to meet with others and to grow. This year they ran their first focus group in order to develop the involvement of people in the shaping of services. John has been working with them for several months with the latest success being a £15,000 grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation.
by John Harris | Jul 13, 2025 | news
Another huge success from our work with ecoACTIVE was announced this summer. The Dukes Foundation informed EcoActive that the charity was selected as the Youth Advisory Board’s 2025 Charity of the Year. This comes with an initial grant of £15,000, with a second tranche of up to £15,000 contingent on the successful delivery and reporting of the agreed outcomes and impact conditions. The announcement said that their Youth Advisory Board undertook a robust process: each charity was independently assessed using a shared rubric, followed by an in-person session where members conducted a detailed review and discussion. EcoActive stood out unanimously. The Board were particularly impressed by: Your proven impact on school communities – delivering hands-on environmental learning that is measurable and meaningful. Your alignment with educational values – supporting children and young people to be active participants in climate action. Your capacity for partnership and scale – demonstrating readiness to expand your reach and deepen collaboration with educational institutions.
by John Harris | Jul 13, 2025 | news
John and Rachel have been working with ecoACTIVE for around 4 years now. It is a highly enjoyable and successful collaboration. We worked on three applications which came to fruition in June and July – amounting to £70,000 in grants over two years. John Lewis Partnership Foundation: JLFP awarded £20,000 to support an environmental learning and skills programme. This will include: Access to Nature and Forest School Sessions for Primary Schools and Nurseries; Sustainability Education and Green Skills Sessions for Secondary and Post-16 Pupils: Pollinator Training Pilot:- Development, piloting and evaluation of a new pollinator training programme with three schools located along the Hackney Buzzline (a pollinator corridor that ecoACTIVE is currently developing in partnership with the local authority and other landlords). Participants will learn to plant for local pollinators, create suitable habitats, and gain ecological skills for surveying, identifying and recording pollinators.
by John Harris | Jul 13, 2025 | news
We are delighted to share that our work has led to a £10,000 grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation – as a conribution to core costs. Otley Courthouse is an arts and resource which opened in 2004 – following an 8 year development period transforming a redundant magistrates court into a thriving community arts and culture centre. Since that time, a strong and varied programme of events has been established. They know that the arts and culture matter to people – and that community and connections matter. Otley Courthouse brings these two dimensions of life together. Each week they host many groups and classes including: exercise classes, community choirs, chair-based yoga, Pilates, knitting, Under 5’s groups and a dementia group. The community café is open daily. The Courthouse hosts around 200 events a year from film screenings to theatre, with a wide variety of music, comedy, and an annual Science Festival. They run school holiday activities for children and offer part time work and volunteering for young people. A range of community organisations meet here including Otley Maker Space, Wharfedale Men’s Shed which are both formal tenants. They also host a monthly craft fair, Otley Green Fair, and an Arts Festival. Otley Courthouse provides opportunities for people to make new friends and to feel connected in their community. For local people, this helps create a shared sense of purpose; feeling of being part of the community and shared support. Staff and volunteers have built up strong partnerships over the years with many local and regional organisations.
by John Harris | May 13, 2025 | news
This week we heard that we had succeeded in an application worked on with Collective Encounters Tessa Buddle – for £15,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Their work has grown year on year, and they now run participatory theatre programmes that work with adults in areas of the region where there is still little opportunity to participate in the arts (Creative Communities); with women, and particularly the radical contribution women have made to the region (Women In Action); family groups whose voices are seldom heard including cared for young people and their families/ carers, unaccompanied young migrants, ethnically minoritised carers and families, and Older People. They have researched and published a guide to dementia-friendly arts activities). The Centre for Excellence provides training and sector development nationally and internationally, and the Radical Makers programme reached people who would normally be excluded from such opportunities.
