The Didcot Powerhouse impact event brought together donors, grant recipients, community leaders and VIPs at the Cornerstone Arts Centre to celebrate the impact achieved by local charities receiving over half a million pounds in Powerhouse grants over the last five years.
175 people came together in the heart of Didcot to celebrate the impact of The Didcot Powerhouse Fund. The donor-advised fund held and managed by Oxfordshire Community Foundation, has now made 88 grants totalling £515,000 to local charities over the past five years. It was an evening full of stories, connection and shared purpose. We heard from organisations and individuals supported over the last year, and reflected on the longer-term impact of the Fund since it launched in 2021 and made its first grants in 2022. Some of the organisations supported at the start are still part of the journey today, and it was incredibly moving to look back on lives that have changed direction because support was there at the right time.
The Didcot Powerhouse Fund operates a distinctive model: it channels donations from local businesses and individuals – including companies based at Didcot’s world-leading science and business campuses – directly into grant funding for community organisations tackling inequality and deprivation in the greater Didcot area and surrounding villages.
Elizabeth Paris led the evening, drawing together the presentations and stories of impact, and highlighting the way organisations have collaborated to create opportunities and solutions, including young people from TRAIN – Inspiring Young People who took part in Justice in Motion’s CODE performance in Didcot. The 2025 Impact Report was shared with everyone attending, packed with stories from every grant recipient supported last year.
The event also shared which charitable organisations have received grants in 2026 against the theme of ‘Powering a healthy Didcot’. This year, The Didcot Powerhouse Fund is awarding £132,000 to 18 organisations working across health, education, youth services, wellbeing and more. Many of them were at the event, making the evening a powerful reminder of what can happen next. It was particularly pleasing to see five charitable organisations receiving Powerhouse grants for the first time, helping a range of charities to reach more people in the Didcot-area.
As the Lord-Lieutenant Mrs Marjorie Glasgow BEM said – the evening was all about celebrating hard working local charities, and how Powerhouse is contributing to strengthening social cohesion in the local community.