Gatwick Airport calls for Sussex, Surrey and Kent groups to apply for funding

The Gatwick Airport Community Trust is calling for groups in Sussex, Surrey and Kent to apply for funding in a bid to help local people during the cost-of-living crisis. 

In addition, the Gatwick Foundation Fund is inviting community groups to apply for funding to support their important work and applications for Kent groups are currently open.

This means currently there is a grand total of £233,000 of grant funding for deserving projects within the area of benefit, which covers parts of East and West Sussex, Surrey and Kent.

Melanie Wrightson, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Gatwick Airport, said: “As we continue to live in challenging economic times, we’re inviting community groups to apply for funding so we can support their vital work, which will help those most in need during the cost-of-living crisis.

“It gives us great joy to be able to support our local communities, and invite groups in Surrey, Sussex and Kent to find out about the pots of funding available to them, from the Gatwick Airport Community Trust and the Gatwick Foundation Fund.”

Gatwick Airport Community Trust

Previous recipients of funding from the Gatwick Airport Community Trust and the Gatwick Foundation Fund have included Kangaroos in Haywards Heath, a charity which provides year-round clubs and trips for people with learning disabilities and additional needs.

Kangaroos’ Grants and Contracts Manager and one of the initial founders of Kangaroos, Jenni Herrett said: “We are extremely appreciative of the support from both Gatwick Airport Community Trust and the Gatwick Airport Foundation Fund, enabling us to deliver exciting and fun events for children and young people with disabilities, helping them to feel less isolated, be independent of their families and improve their confidence.

“The Community Trust has supported us consistently over the last ten years with grants totalling more than £20,000 which has helped us to organise experiential activities such as overnight and day trips, buying sensory equipment and buying toys.”

The Gatwick Airport Community Trust adopts strict criteria when choosing where to channel funds, focusing on areas around Gatwick Airport. Beneficiaries must live within the Trust’s area of benefit – click here for the map: https://www.gact.org.uk/area.php.

Gatwick Airport Community Trust encourages and supports schemes that benefit diverse sections of the local community and are targeted towards the development of young people, the arts, sporting facilities, environmental improvement and conservation, improvements to community facilities, volunteering, the elderly and the disabled.

Applications are open now for the Gatwick Airport Community Trust fund, and the deadline is 31 March 2023.

Gatwick Foundation Fund

The Gatwick Foundation Fund was founded in 2016 and provides support to community groups across Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

A major focus for the Fund is to provide grants to local projects and community groups that fight social isolation and tackle disadvantage, raise aspirations and improve skills, improve health and wellbeing, and support children and young people.

The Gatwick Foundation Fund has made 236 grants across the region since it was founded.

Applications are open and the deadline to apply for Kent groups is 10 February 2023.

Previous Foundation Fund recipient, Helen Beckerson, Operations Manager at Citizens Advice in North and West Kent, said: “The funding we received from the Foundation Fund helped us to launch a pilot program in Tonbridge and Malling to help us provide additional support to clients with mental health needs.

“The Foundation Fund awarded us £5,000 which enabled our teams to follow up with clients and ensure they had ongoing support to help them resolve issues they were experiencing, for example with benefits.

“In-depth work like this can take many months. The feedback we received was extremely positive and we used the learnings from this to expand the project in our region. We’re so grateful to the Foundation Fund for the money, funding and support, which it made a tremendous difference to our clients too.”

During the course of 2023, there will also be an opportunity for groups in Sussex and Surrey to apply for funding from the Foundation Fund, with £100,000 available for each county.

For more information about the Gatwick Airport Community Trust, visit https://www.gact.org.uk/

For more information about the Foundation Fund go to: https://www.gatwickairport.com/business-community/community/our-support/foundation-fund/

Social media post

Gatwick Airport has announced £233k in funding to support communities during the #CostOfLivingCrisis

Community groups in parts of Sussex, Kent and Surrey are encouraged to apply:

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Editors notes

About Gatwick Airport Community Trust The Trust is an independent charity that has been in operation since 2002 as part of the legal arrangements between West Sussex County Council, Crawley Borough Council and Gatwick Airport Limited following publication of the airport’s Sustainable Development Strategy. It awards grants annually for deserving projects within the area of benefit, which covers parts of East and West Sussex, Surrey and Kent. The demand for grants always exceeds the funds available, and the normal level of grants is from £1,000 to £5,000. Occasionally larger amounts may be considered if they will benefit a significant number of people and will make a valuable difference in the longer term. Applicants should seek advice from the Trust BEFORE applying for a larger grant. Gatwick Airport Limited funds the Trust, with the annual amount linked to passenger numbers. The purpose of setting up the Trust was to ensure that, as the airport continued to grow, funds generated by the existence of the airport should be made available to a board of independent trustees, to make a positive contribution to the quality of life of the communities affected by the airport and its continuing growth. Visit: https://www.gact.org.uk/ About Gatwick Foundation Fund The Gatwick Foundation Fund is managed by individual Community Foundations for Kent, Sussex and Surrey on behalf of Gatwick Airport, 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. Visit: https://www.gatwickairport.com/business-community/community/our-support/foundation-fund/