Last week’s #GivingTuesday was a global day of charitable giving, and the chance for OCF to celebrate the impact of our donors’ time, talent and treasure in improving the lives of people in Oxfordshire.
At an event to celebrate #GivingTuesday last night, John Lewis Oxford’s Branch Manager Julie Blake announced the launch of the Westgate Fund. The fund is held with Oxfordshire Community Foundation and will make grants to charities and community groups working with disadvantaged people in the city.
OCF will mark #GivingTuesday with a drinks reception at Tap Social Movement, a new brewery and social enterprise in Oxford that supports people serving prison sentences by providing work and training.
At OCF’s latest Funders’ Forum on 31st October 2017, local trusts and foundations heard from a leading Oxford homeless charity, and found out more about how they could fund projects collaboratively on The Good Exchange.
High Sheriff of Oxfordshire Jane Cranston took the opportunity to showcase the work of the voluntary sector and criminal justice system at her event last night at St Helen and St Katharine School in Abingdon.
During the past six months OCF’s processes, governance and business planning mechanisms have been evaluated by an independent assessor, achieving an overall Quality Accreditation score of 53 out of 55.
The report is published by The Good Exchange and investigates how technology can help the charitable sector overcome key modern-day challenges – in particular the changes to government funding and the increasing demand for the services provided by charities.
This year’s High Sheriff Jane Cranston is running an online auction in association with Mallam’s, with a series of exciting lots already donated in aid of three local charities working to reduce the effects of crime. Jane is seeking more donations before the auction goes live in October.
The Berin Centre is a new facility serving the village of Berinsfield, which houses many low-income families. The new centre is the culmination of a year of work by the community to replace and improve on services that were previously provided by the local government-funded children’s centre.
Community foundations in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Milton Keynes are working together to turn the proceeds of crime into grants that reduce reoffending, prevent social problems and build community resilience.