DonorsFinancialGroupsNewsOCFDidcot Powerhouse Fund

Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) is delighted to announce a brand new annual grants round from The Didcot Powerhouse Fund. Grants between £1,000 and £25,000 are available. Applications are open for initial Expression of Interest until Thursday 17 February. The theme for this year is ‘Supporting Children, Young People and Families as we Emerge from the Pandemic’.

The Didcot Powerhouse Fund was founded to address inequality in Didcot, a town that has a mixed profile of neighbourhoods, where affluent areas adjoin those with greater need, placing some of Didcot’s wards in the top 20% of the Index of Multiple Deprivation in England which encompasses seven key social measures. Find out more in our Local Insight Report for Didcot.

Fuelled by financial donations from an initial core group of businesses and individuals in 2021, the Fund is managed by OCF. An annual grant-giving process will be used to help community support bodies sustain their important work.

The Fund is keen to attract many more local business donors, churches, and individuals to help fundraise, either by making donations or by offering their services or fundraising efforts in support. Donors already committed to the project are Didcot First who host the Fund; MEPC Milton Park, Soha, Evotec, Hachette UK Distribution, Harwell Campus, Ipsen, Asda, CTS, Diamond Light Source, Infinium and Reef Group.

Richard Kennell, Director of charity SOFEA said “Even though SOFEA is now too large to apply, we welcome this new source of funding for Didcot. We provide education, employment, and wellbeing programmes for vulnerable youngsters as well as tackling food insecurity. Funding is always a primary concern for charities such as ours to be able to plan forward.”

Those community focused organisations based inside the Didcot Garden Town Area of Influence are encouraged to apply for grants. If you are thinking about applying and have questions about what work is suitable for an application or just want to ensure you submit the best application, please register for our application workshop on Thursday 3rd February at 3pm. We will be joined by a member of the Didcot Powerhouse Grants Panel.

The application process is in two stages. The closing date for initial Expressions of Interest is Thursday 17th February at midday. These forms will be reviewed by the Grants Panel. A small number of these will then be invited to complete a full application and present to the Grants Panel.

Find out more and apply