London Gatwick lends helping hand to good causes in Kent

Kent community groups were celebrating this week as London Gatwick announced the recipients of £33,000 from round one of the Gatwick Foundation Fund across Tonbridge and Malling, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

Among the seven good causes which benefited from a financial boost were Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees, which will use the £5,000 funding to cover its core costs for the year.

It will also use the money for project funds as it helps refugees from Syria to secure housing and offers them mentoring to help them adjust to their lives in the town.

Two further groups in Royal Tunbridge Wells received funding, including Baby Umbrella, which will put the £2,000 towards providing vital support for families to reduce isolation and improve family wellbeing and West Kent Mind received £6,000, which will help it expand its professional counsellor resource. 

In Sevenoaks, the Commonwork Trust will use £8,500 to improve young people’s lives and Spadework received £4,400 to support its work with adults with learning and other disabilities, people experiencing problems with their mental health and those living with early-onset dementia. Jigsaw South East received £1,500 and will support bereaved children and young people in Sevenoaks.

Finally, The Oaks Specialist College in Tonbridge will use £5,400 of funding to provide support with internships.

Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees (TWWR) trustee and treasurer Viv Hughes, said: “TWWR supports any refugees who want our help and who live in the borough of Tunbridge Wells.

“The refugees are so grateful to be here away from war zones and other dangers and they want to do their best to become useful members of the community.

“This includes improving their ability to communicate in English and finding out about the different cultural expectations. They want to find work when possible so they can pay taxes.

“They encourage their children to try hard at school so that in the future they too will be able to be useful members of society.

“The funding will enable the volunteers with TWWR to continue helping the refugees with these aims through helping them feel welcome and safe, providing English lessons, helping them become more independent and supporting their educational and employment ambitions.

“The trustees at TWWR are very grateful to have received this grant from the Gatwick Foundation Fund and will ensure it is used in the best ways possible to support the refugees.”

The Oaks Specialist College CEO Gordon Tillman added: “The Oaks Specialist College is extremely grateful to The Gatwick Foundation Fund for its generous donation to our careers programme. Any amount that we receive can and does make a massive difference to the lives and future outcomes of our young people.”

Melanie Wrightson, stakeholder engagement manager at London Gatwick, said: “We know that the funding we have provided for these local grassroots community and voluntary projects will make a real difference to people’s lives as they continue to work tirelessly during the current cost of living crisis.

“It gives us so much joy at London Gatwick to support our local community as we continue to build on the benefits that the airport delivers to its neighbours.

“We look forward to hearing how this funding will help people in need and invite other community groups to apply for future funding rounds from the Gatwick Foundation Fund so they can benefit from the airport’s success too.” 

The 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.

Each year there are three rounds of grants, totalling £100,000, which are made available to beneficiaries in Kent, across the area of benefit which includes Tonbridge and Malling, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

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

Applications are open from 1 June and the deadline to apply for the next round of funding is 31 August.

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

Ends

Editors notes

About Gatwick Foundation Fund

The 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 Gatwick Foundation Fund has made more than £1m in donations, which support local grassroots community and voluntary projects that make a difference to people’s lives and meet local need. The Gatwick Foundation Fund was suspended in April 2020 due to the pandemic. It operates in Sussex across Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden, in Surrey across Reigate & Banstead, Tandridge and the Mole Valley area, and in Kent across Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

For more information visit: https://www.gatwickairport.com/business-community/community/our-support/foundation-fund/