London Gatwick supports good causes in Sussex

Sussex community groups were jumping for joy this week as London Gatwick announced the recipients of £30,000 from the second round of the London Gatwick Foundation Fund of 2024, across Mid Sussex, Crawley and Wealden.

Among the five good causes to benefit was Free Shop Crawley which received £7,640 to put towards its core costs. The group was founded in 2020 by two mums who had found the process of using foodbanks intimidating and shameful.

Today, Free Shop provides workshops, food and essentials and supports their members’ mental health.

Befriended will use £5,000 of funding to pay for the role of an operational leader, as it works to end loneliness and isolation amongst older people living in Mid-Sussex. The group works in partnership with local churches, organisations and GPs.

Gail Millar CEO of Befriended said: “Thanks to the grant from London Gatwick Foundation Fund we have appointed an operations coordinator which will bring growth, sustainability and development to all at Befriended. 

“Through all our activities and services for older people living in Mid Sussex, we will bring an end to loneliness and isolation, making life better one smile at a time.”

Hope into Action: Mid Sussex will spend its £5,000 on staff costs as it continues to provide high quality supported accommodation for men, women, families and refugees who have been homeless.

The group delivers professional support through the employment of empowerment workers and trains a group of volunteer befrienders to meet with tenants each week.

Nigel Goodenough, executive director, Hope into Action: Mid Sussex, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive funding from the London Gatwick Foundation Fund, which means we can continue to provide high quality supported accommodation to homeless adults and families across Crawley and Mid Sussex. 

“This grant will go towards the salaries of our two part-time 'empowerment workers', who work tirelessly with our tenants to encourage, love, support, coach and empower them. 

“Together with our wonderful volunteer friendship and support teams, they enable our tenants to learn skills, improve their self-worth and gain confidence to achieve their ambitions, move into independent accommodation and permanently break cycles of homelessness.”

Park Centre in Burgess Hill received nearly £9,900 to pay for the staff costs of a community development officer, as it puts together an exciting plan to transform a historic building into a multi-use centre for the community.

Local councillors, business leaders and community members teamed up to restore and reopen a once thriving youth club in the town which had closed. 

It will function as a cultural arts and sports hub, as well as a safe space for young people to socialise and seek support.

Finally Mid-Sussex Older People's Council will use £2,500 of funding to hold free community events.    

The group caters to local people who are over the age of 60, in receipt of a state pension and who may be experiencing ill-health, disability or financial hardship, and those who may be socially excluded.

Melanie Wrightson, stakeholder engagement manager at London Gatwick, said: “We love making a difference to our local community through the London Gatwick Foundation Fund, which has helped hundreds of good causes over the years.

“We can’t wait to hear updates from the charities and community projects we have supported this year about their completed projects.

“We encourage all community groups and charities to apply for the next round of funding to enable us to lend a helping hand.”

Each year there are three rounds of grants, totalling £100,000, which are made available to beneficiaries in Sussex, across the area of benefit which covers Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden.

The London Gatwick Foundation Fund was set up in 2016 to award funding to local groups that work to fight social isolation and tackle disadvantage, raise aspirations and develop skills, improve health and wellbeing, and support children and young people.

The London Gatwick Foundation Fund is managed on behalf of London Gatwick in Sussex by the Sussex Community Foundation.

To apply for funding from the Gatwick Foundation Fund in Sussex, please go to: https://sussexgiving.org.uk/

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Editors notes

For further information, please contact:

Tom Bushby, Samantha Clark or Flo Powell

Midnight Communications

Tel: 01273 666 200

Email: gatwick@midnight.co.uk

Notes to editors:

About London Gatwick Foundation Fund

The London Gatwick Foundation Fund is managed by individual Community Foundations for Kent, Sussex and Surrey on behalf of London Gatwick, which oversees the programme and assesses all applications.

Each year, there are three rounds of grants, which are split equally between Sussex, Surrey and Kent.

Since it was founded in 2016, the London Gatwick Foundation Fund has made more than £1.7m in donations, which support local grassroots community and voluntary projects that make a difference to people’s lives and meet local need.

It operates in Sussex across Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden, in Surrey across Reigate and Banstead, Tandridge and Mole Valley, and in Kent across Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

For more information visit: https://www.gatwickairport.com/company/community/funding.html