London Gatwick Foundation Fund awards £32,000 to Surrey causes

London Gatwick has donated more than £32,000 to deserving causes throughout the Surrey region.

A total of seven deserving groups have been handed a lifeline, which means they can continue to build better communities, support young people and those with additional needs, and improve the health and wellbeing of thousands of people.

Melanie Wrightson, stakeholder engagement manager at London Gatwick, said: “We are so happy to be in a position to help such worthy causes in Surrey. The past few years have been especially difficult for so many of the charities and support organisations that work incredibly hard to help people in need. These financial awards will go a long way to making sure that the essential services they provide remain accessible to those that benefit from them the most.”

The organisations that are set to receive these life-changing payouts include Renewed Hope in Reigate and Banstead, which offers support for the homeless and vulnerably housed. It now has £5,000 for a support worker in East Surrey.

Specialist Youth Work, a resource for people aged ten to 25 with special educational needs and or disabilities, has received £5,000 for a detached mobile youth service providing activities and support for vulnerable youngsters across Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead and Tandridge.

St John’s School in Dorking received £5,297 towards the running costs of its Holmwoods Belong Project.

Tandridge Voluntary Action, which supports voluntary and charitable organisations, was given £5,000 towards the running costs of its older people’s befriending scheme.

Relate Mid and East Surrey received £5,000 for its subsidised counselling support for low-income households or those suffering economic disadvantage in the Reigate and Banstead area.

Abi Stokes, chief executive officer, Relate Mid and East Surrey said: “We are thrilled to have received £5,000 from the Gatwick Foundation Fund. This grant will allow us to offer reduced cost counselling to individuals, couples and families so they can still access the relationship and wellbeing support they need.

“Relate Mid and East Surrey offer counselling services to support people within our community to have thriving relationships as well as to help improve their mental health and wellbeing.

“Counselling enables our clients to articulate feelings, explore their thoughts and develop coping strategies. This grant will make a contribution towards the costs of each counselling session so that we can provide accessible support during the cost-of-living crisis.”

Bletchingley Skills Centre received £2,539 for its skills training programme for adults with disabilities and learning difficulties in the Tandrige area.

Caterham Barracks Community Trust now has £4,995 for its food poverty project that provides community meals and cooking lessons.

To find out more about the Gatwick Foundation Fund, which is administered by the Community Foundation for Surrey visit: https://www.cfsurrey.org.uk/

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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 and 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/.