London Gatwick seeks good causes from Kent

Deserving local causes in Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, can now apply for the second round of funding in the London Gatwick Foundation Fund. 

The fund has £33,000 available in the area of benefit in Kent and it is asking local groups which need support during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis to apply.

Each year, there are three rounds of grants, with £300,000 in total split equally between groups in parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Melanie Wrightson, stakeholder engagement manager at London Gatwick, said: “The acute cost-of-living crisis in the UK continues and we know grassroots organisations and voluntary projects are under increasing financial strain.

“The London Gatwick Foundation Fund has supported hundreds of good causes over the years. We would like to urge local charities and community groups to apply for funding and allow us to help make a difference.

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. Funding is available to both new and existing projects.

Amongst the recipients last year was The Oaks Specialist College in Tonbridge, which received £5,400 towards growing its careers team. When combined with funding from other grant givers last year, this had a transformative effect on the prospects of students.

The college educates 18–25-year-olds with special needs and disabilities and aims to develop and increase employability and independence.

Disabled people are almost twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people and three times as likely to be economically inactive, but by focusing on work exposure opportunities and with patience, understanding and training, The Oaks has managed to quadruple the ‘into employment’ statistic for its leavers.

Jackie Thurtle, projects lead at The Oaks Specialist College said: “The impact can be clearly shown in our ‘into employment’ figures but also in the leaps that have been made in learners’ ability to retain placements and walk a little taller.

“The funding in total paid for an Accessibility Facilitator to jump on board and develop the work we do with accessibility features on mobile phones – which really does lift lives. Our work in this field has led us to be the only Post 18 SEND provision in the world with Microsoft Showcase status.”

The deadline to apply for the London Gatwick Foundation Fund is 06 May in Kent.

For more information about the London Gatwick Foundation Fund please go to: https://kentcf.org.uk/

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Editors notes

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 £1.5m 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