Funds raised during the Surviving Winter appeal in Oxfordshire total just over £12,000, and have been used to support a variety of community groups across the county who are expert in meeting the needs of elderly and vulnerable people.
Oxfordshire Community Foundation has partnered with national charity Comic Relief to provide £10,000 in grant funding to 13 different groups across the county that provide vital support to all sorts of vulnerable people.
The biennial Beacon Awards celebrate innovative philanthropy in the UK, and we were delighted to be there to see one of our most influential donors receive an award. Hedge fund manager David Harding and his wife Claudia recently established £600k fund with Oxfordshire Community Foundation, adding a local element to their extensive portfolio of charitable giving.
Our Chair Anna Moon and Chief Executive Jayne Woodley were delighted to attend the swearing-in ceremony for the new High Sheriff of Oxfordshire Tom Birch Reynardson last night at Oxford Crown Court, where he announced a further collaboration with the community foundation.
Grant applications are now open for our standard grants round, with access to a single online form that allows community groups to apply for support from a collective of different funders.
We are delighted to welcome Anne Davies and Nick Case to our Board of Trustees, who bring a wealth of business expertise to the organisation from their work in the private sector and long experience of information systems and financial management.
Has your organisation been planning a new and bold initiative but lacked the necessary funding? The RAISE Challenge Fund is looking to support innovation, piloting, testing and development in the voluntary sector to help local organisations make a step change and achieve greater results.
OCF has awarded a large grant to Trax, an Oxford-based charity that provides training opportunities and counselling to disadvantaged and disengaged young people. The group, which specialises in bike refurbishment, is using the grant to create a social enterprise model that will allow them to be self-sufficient.
Community foundations UK-wide are now collectively in the top 15 for charitable endowments held in the UK, with the second fastest growing endowment in the country. As we approach the General Election, umbrella organisation UKCF is lobbying for the next government to make local philanthropy one of its key strategic priorities.
Oxfordshire Community Foundation is delighted and very proud to see dedicated Chair Anna Moon win the prestigious High Sheriff’s Award for Contributions to Community Life.