Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) is delighted to have awarded grants totalling £300,000, from Oxfordshire County Council’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund. These grants will enable 57 local organisations to continue delivering vital services to our communities and their residents.
Voluntary and community organisations across Oxfordshire offered emotional and practical support throughout the pandemic, allowing the most vulnerable to maintain their health and wellbeing. This funding aimed to continue that support and provide sustainability for the Voluntary and Community Sector post-pandemic, allowing our communities to recover and renew. OCF and Oxfordshire County Council wanted to ensure the funding reached more organisations enabling people to remain self-isolated, as advised or preferred; supported organisations with the mechanisms to provide wraparound support in communities; allowed people self-isolating to remain connected and supported at home; addressed the physical and mental wellbeing of anyone in self-isolation; and increased individual and community resilience to the direct impact of COVID-19.
Examples of activities covered by the funding included:
- Community transport – volunteer driver schemes – to support residents in attending important appointments such as accessing vaccinations and key health appointments
- Provision of food and essential packages – through food banks, community larders, community fridges, meals on wheels and personal food shoppers
- Befriending schemes – providing phone calls to residents unable to leave the house and signposting to key services
- Digital inclusion projects with hard-to-reach groups and individuals to support people to live well at home
- Community Support Groups – providing localised support to residents to reduce their need to leave the house, such as dog-walking, prescription collection, food and essential supplies collection and delivery. Linking in with social prescribing projects across the county.
- Supporting and developing innovative schemes and projects, joining up grassroots organisations to create sustainability and improve access to services and support across the county
- Reaching sections of the community at high risk, such as areas of economic deprivation
- Reaching black and minority ethnic groups and communities of culture, not just place; advisory groups for underrepresented communities and supporting them to have vaccinations, for example
- Recovery and renewal post-covid – groups that are helping to rebuild communities and didn’t get the same support during COVID, such as support for mums and babies
With a huge thank you to our partner organisations Community First Oxfordshire, Good Food Oxfordshire and OCVA who had conversations with all of the applicants and ensured the benefits of the project were clearly defined and they met the eligibility criteria. 57 organisations were awarded grants worth £300,000, reaching over 24,400 beneficiaries through their projects. See the full list of grants awarded below.
One of these organisations, Oxford Mutual Aid will use their grant to fund their food and essentials delivery service for six months. They are often the first port of call for many individuals and organisations facing acute food insecurity. Income and vulnerable employment, physical/mental health problems, unpaid caring responsibilities, and isolation/ lack of social connectivity, all have an enormous impact on a person’s risk of food poverty. Feedback from their recipients has noted a lack of comparably flexible support, making Oxford Mutual Aid essential to those with access issues. They are also committed to ensuring that pathways to independence are generated through their interactions and by signposting to other organisations as needed.
For The Archway Foundation, their grant will provide training for their telephone befriending volunteers, ensuring they continue to have the skills they require to support The Archway Foundation Friends with mental health difficulties. At the same time, they will ensure they protect the mental well-being of their volunteers. Currently, the telephone befriending service supports 150 members of the community and has enabled the Archway Foundation to increase their geographic reach, as long as Friends have access to a telephone they can be supported wherever they live in the county. For a number of current Friends and going forward for new Friends they will often be their only point of human contact.
OCF is currently looking to support older people through the Sir George Earle Benevolent Fund. Find out more and apply
List of grants made in OCF’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund grants round:
| Organisation | Project | Primary Beneficiary | Number Of Beneficiaries | Amount Awarded |
| 3 Parishes Community Fridge | Community Fridge | People living in rural areas | 255 | £ 695 |
| ARCH (Assisted Reading for Children in Oxfordshire) | New volunteer recruitment | Children and young people | 120 | £ 9,540 |
| Archway Foundation | Supporting people’s mental well-being | People living with mental health problems | 150 | £ 9,576 |
| Banbury Muslim Mosque Society | Replenishing the foodbank | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 150 | £ 750 |
| Barton Community Church | Hear4You | Local residents | 25 | £ 800 |
| Berin Centre | Responsive Support | Families/parents | 135 | £ 9,166 |
| Berinsfield volunteer day centre | Day centre transport | People living in rural areas | 22 | £ 1,500 |
| Bicester Autism | Childrens Groups | Families/parents | 200 | £ 1,200 |
| Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground | Support for children and families on the Leys | Children and young people | 150 | £ 10,000 |
| Blackbird Leys Neighbourhood Support Scheme Ltd | Advising and supporting in the aftermath of Covid | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 800 | £ 5,000 |
| Blewbury Amazons Girls Football Club | Winning at Life mental health provision | Women and/or girls | 150 | £ 1,500 |
| Botley Bridges | Parent and Baby Group | Children and young people | 150 | £ 1,500 |
| Charlbury Parochial Church Council (PCC) St Mary’s Church, Charlbury | Cornerstone | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 90 | £ 1,485 |
| Cherwell Theatre Company | Amplify | Children and young people | 65 | £ 7,067 |
| Cholsey Volunteers Trust | Cholsey Volunteers Trust | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 250 | £ 9,954 |
| Citizens Advice Oxford | Volunteer re-build post pandemic | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 600 | £ 7,107 |
| Communi-tea Cafe | Cafe | Local residents | 40 | £ 5,000 |
| Cutteslowe Seniors | Reducing isolation | Older people | 20 | £ 1,500 |
| Daybreak | Painting Nature – Family carers | Older people | 75 | £ 5,350 |
| Donnington Tenants and Residents Association | 50+ Health and Wellbeing | Older people | 70 | £ 9,456 |
| Dovecote Voluntary Parent Committee | Dovecote Children & Families Project | Local residents | 200 | £ 6,170 |
| Down to Earth Community Cafe CIC | Community Cook-In events | Local residents | 300 | £ 1,440 |
| East Oxford Farmers’ & Community Market | Community outreach | Local residents | 500 | £ 750 |
| Grove Parochial Church Council, St John the Baptist Grove – GroW Families | Baby and toddler groups | Families/parents | 350 | £ 9,320 |
| Heart Heroes | Online Community Support | Families/parents | 150 | £ 9,000 |
| Home-Start Banbury and Chipping Norton | Family Support activities | Families/parents | 250 | £ 8,300 |
| Home-Start Oxford | Supporting disadvantaged under 5s and their families | Children and young people | 80 | £ 10,000 |
| Nai’s House | Suicide Prevention | Children and young people | 910 | £ 8,100 |
| Nepalese Community Oxfordshire | Meet and greet | People from a particular minority ethnic or racial origin | 500 | £ 745 |
| NOMAD | Foodbank | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 100 | £ 5,000 |
| One-Eighty | Make Me Smile – Post Pandemic | Children and young people | 1200 | £ 5,096 |
| Oxford Hindu Temple and Community Centre Project | Friendship, Food, Fun = 3F | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 250 | £ 1,500 |
| Oxford Mutual Aid | Food delivery and support | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 2000 | £ 9,963 |
| Oxford Parent Infant Project (OXPIP) | Referrals Co-ordinator Project | Families/parents | 525 | £ 10,000 |
| Oxford Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre | Listening Services | Women and/or girls | 127 | £ 10,000 |
| Oxfordshire Breastfeeding Support | Hybrid feeding support | Families/parents | 290 | £ 8,438 |
| Oxfordshire Discovery College | Increasing services and core costs | Children and young people | 30 | £ 9,249 |
| Oxfordshire Older Chinese People Centre (Happy Place) | Reduce Isolation and Loneliness | Older people | 50 | £ 1,500 |
| People, Place & Participation Ltd | OX4 Food Crew, Building Resilience Project | Local residents | 2000 | £ 8,880 |
| Reducing the Risk of Domestic Abuse | Supporting victims of Elder Abuse | Older people | 65 | £ 9,000 |
| Refugee Resource | Mentoring Service | Refugees/asylum seekers/vulnerable migrants | 30 | £ 10,000 |
| Riverside Counselling Service | Didcot Open Door Project | People living with mental health problems | 25 | £ 1,500 |
| Rivertime Boat Trust | Boating for Disabled Adults and Children on the River Thames | People living with learning disabilities | 240 | £ 3,200 |
| SeeSaw | Volunteer Support Workers | Children and young people | 183 | £ 10,000 |
| Syrian Community in Oxfordshire SYRCOX | Emergency Food Parcels | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 500 | £ 2,400 |
| Syrian Sisters | Food Bank and Lunch Club | Refugees/asylum seekers/vulnerable migrants | 150 | £ 2,329 |
| The Branch Trust | Branch Out to Cook Course | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 200 | £ 4,000 |
| The Florence Park Community Association | Over 60’s Free Lunch Club | Older people | 35 | £ 1,368 |
| The Maple Tree | Social steps | Families/parents | 200 | £ 4,235 |
| The Valentine Club | Getting our lives back! | Older people | 100 | £ 500 |
| The Wychwoods Day Centre Ltd | The New Normal | Older people | 30 | £ 960 |
| UCARE (Oxford) | Printable Self Help Tool kits for People with Long Term Conditions | Older people | 5000 | £ 1,500 |
| Volunteer Link Up (West Oxfordshire) | Targeted Volunteer Recruitment | Older people | 800 | £ 8,500 |
| Wallingford Accessible Boat Club | Package of WOW-one voyages | People living with mental health problems | 300 | £ 1,500 |
| Waste2taste,Ltd | Free meals – protecting and connecting the community | People living in poverty/disadvantage | 1100 | £ 9,710 |
| Watlington Volunteer Drivers | Driving to medical appointments | Older people | 120 | £ 1,500 |
| West Oxfordshire Community Transport | Keep the wheels rolling | Older people | 2000 | £ 6,200 |