A wide range of projects supported by OCF’s Sovereign Housing grant programme came together on Saturday to share their achievements with the Sovereign grants panel. The panel is made up of residents from the housing association’s properties in Oxfordshire, with grants being administered by the community foundation.
Thirty-six different community groups attended the event at Wootton & Dry Sandford Hall on Saturday 20th February 2016, and were asked to talk for a couple of minutes each about the impact they were able to have with the funds given to them by Sovereign as part of the ‘Making a Difference’ programme. Grants of up to £1,000 and totalling £35,000 were awarded to local community projects, voluntary groups and charities.
Sovereign is one of the largest housing associations in the south and south west of England, owning and managing over 37,500 homes and employing over 1,000 people.
OCF was represented by Office Guru Annette Ahern, who was moved by the array of grassroots community projects on show. Annette commented: “It was really inspiring to hear how the charities and community groups had used the funds to make people’s lives better. The event demonstrated that Sovereign have supported a great variety of causes, from mental health to sustainability to the arts – and it was rewarding for the OCF office to see the fruits of our work in publicising and administering the grants to our network.”
The event was a chance for the Sovereign grants panel, which is made up of a very diverse group of residents living in Sovereign accommodation across Oxfordshire, to meet those that had benefited from their decisions in person, and for the groups to network with each other.