Oxfordshire Community Foundation has recently partnered with Oxfordshire County Council to distribute Community Capacity grants to grassroots organisations throughout the county.
Grants totalling £347,000 have been awarded to charitable organisations across Oxfordshire to help people to live well and healthily in their communities for as long as possible. Funding from Oxfordshire County Council has enabled Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) to provide grants to a total of 24 groups. All of the grants are supporting the Council’s Oxfordshire Way vision “to support the people of Oxfordshire to live well in their community, remaining fit and healthy for as long as possible: to build community resilience and increase independence”. The partnership between OCF and Oxfordshire County Council is now in its third year of grant-making.
We received many more good quality applications than we were able to fund. However, thanks to the generosity of our other donors, we were able to leverage further funding by matching grant applications with some of our named funds. Our in-depth knowledge of our fundholders’ interests means we can help them support the causes and geographies that matter most to them. Thanks to the David and Claudia Harding Foundation, the Meech Centenary Trust, the Jane Wates Patron Fund, the RWK Goodman Charitable Fund and the OCF Collective Business Fund, we were able to award a further six charitable grants to a total of £66,200, representing a 20% uplift to the funding supplied by the county council.
Kate Parrinder, OCF’s Deputy Chief Executive, said:
“We have been delighted to work with Oxfordshire County Council on this third round of Community Capacity grant-making. Being able to reach more charities than initially anticipated is a great example of how statutory organisations, philanthropists and local businesses can come together for greater impact.”
The types of activity funded range from providing antenatal groups for young families, to healthy cooking classes, and groups reducing loneliness and isolation.
One such group is Volunteer Link Up, based in Witney, which received a grant of £19,500. The funding will be used to deliver their volunteer driver and befriending services. Pat is in her late 90s and living alone in rural West Oxfordshire, with no family nearby to drive her to healthcare appointments. She uses a walking frame, is diabetic, partially sighted and has hearing loss. Volunteers recently drove her to five medical appointments in Oxford and other parts of the county. She would have found it impossible to get to any of these appointments on foot or by public transport without the help of the volunteer driver, who helped her into the venues and ensured she was safely back inside her home. This work provides her with a lifeline to accessing the medical support she needs.
Another of the 30 charitable organisations that were funded through the Community Capacity Fund is Maymessy, which received a grant of £19,866. Based near Wantage, they are an empowering cooking and wellness centre. Loneliness increases the risk of both mental and physical health conditions and is a growing problem. The organisation has been working with local GP practices to provide social prescribing activities for groups of older men who are widowed. The sessions offer cooking advice, recipes, and a much-needed opportunity to reduce social isolation. Participants have learned how to batch-cook fresh meals, are now more confident in the kitchen, and crucially, have made new connections and built their resilience.
Oxfordshire Community Foundation worked with Oxfordshire County Council to administer and distribute the grants in December 2024, made available through funding from the county council. Our expertise and understanding of the grassroots charity network in Oxfordshire enables us to reach charities supporting the most vulnerable in areas of need throughout the county.
Find out more about the grant-making services OCF can offer to statutory bodies and other funders