Northern Rock Foundation announces Funding totalling £1.6million
Northern Rock Foundation’s Trustees have agreed grants and other investments worth £1,592,451 in their second funding round of 2008. Across North East England and Cumbria, 15 organisations will receive a share of grants totalling £1.3 million. A further award of £250,000 will support a national research project on the effectiveness of programmes designed to challenge perpetrators of domestic violence. The Trustees have also commissioned training for voluntary organisations on leadership and management worth £79,960.
The latest funding round follows the announcement last week that the Foundation’s Trustees have reopened their fund for culture and heritage schemes. In total the Foundation expects to invest £11 million in 2008.
In this round, the Foundation’s Trustees have invested £0.5 million in services for people with mental health problems, people with learning disabilities, older people and carers. One of seven organisations benefiting is Carers Northumberland, a new organisation formed from the merger of two existing projects, which will provide advice and information to support carers across the county. It will receive a grant from the Foundation of £75,000.
Stan Cooke, Chair of Carers Northumberland, said: “There are more than 34,000 carers in Northumberland. About 7,000 provide more than 50 hours care a week, effectively caring for someone ‘24/7’. The people we support often don’t see themselves as carers. They are partners, children, parents and friends. But their caring workload can cause stress and illness. The grant from Northern Rock Foundation will enable us to provide information and advice throughout the whole of Northumberland and make a real difference to those carers who need it most.”
The Trustees invested a further £0.5 million in projects providing one-to-one help for young people at risk, homeless people, substance misusers and groups that face prejudice and discrimination. Northern Learning Trust (NLT) is one of six organisations benefiting under this heading. NLT supports individuals to develop basic skills, and skills in communications, parenting and employability. The Foundation’s grant of £117,910 will enable NLT to continue its Sandwriter Project, which trains and supports volunteer mentors for disadvantaged young people who need help to achieve their potential.
Janet Hunter, NLT’s director said: “Our work is delivered from the heart of disadvantaged communities. We help people overcome barriers, either real or perceived, and we make learning accessible and relevant. The Foundation’s grant will enable us to continue the Sandwriter Project, where a volunteer mentor builds a one-to-one supportive relationship with a young person, helping them to live a positive and successful life. Our aim is always to provide mentoring that is fun, rewarding and that will make a difference to everyone who takes part.”
Under their priority of reducing the incidence and impact of domestic and sexual violence, abuse and hate crimes, the Trustees made two grants totalling £0.3 million. Sunderland Counselling Service is a charity that provides counselling to more than 650 people in the city a year. The Foundation’s grant of £115,500 will support its specific work with women to reduce the trauma and distress associated with rape and sexual abuse.
Toby Sweet, Manager of Sunderland Counselling Services, said: “This generous funding from Northern Rock Foundation for our Women’s Service means we will be able to offer more one-to-one counselling to women living in and around Sunderland who have experienced rape and sexual abuse. Northern Rock Foundation’s grant will ensure the stability and continuation of the existing service and allow us to recruit another part-time member of staff and a pool of volunteers to help more women get the help we offer.”
Alastair Balls, Chairman of Northern Rock Foundation, said: “The Trustees are delighted to announce these latest awards from the Foundation. Across all our priorities, the organisations we are funding are using their experience and creativity to make a huge difference to the lives of disadvantaged people and communities. We greatly value their hard work and contribution to improving the quality of life in North East England and Cumbria.”
Full list of funding approved in May 2008
| Organisation | Amount | Term | Description | Area Served |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alzheimer’s Society – Furness Branch | 91,027 | 3 year | To support people with dementia and their carers in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. | Cumbria |
| South Lakeland Alzheimers Society | 62,273 | 3 year | To support people with dementia and their carers in South Lakeland, Cumbria. | Cumbria |
| Haswell & District Mencap | 55,390 | 3 year | To support the inclusion of learning disabled people at a community project in Haswell, County Durham. | Durham |
| The Irene Taylor Trust ‘Music in Prisons’ | 39,000 | 3 year | For a series of creative music projects with young offenders in the North East. | Durham |
| Blue Sky Trust | 45,000 | 3 year | To provide support for women with HIV. | North East |
| Carers Northumberland | 75,000 | 3 year | To provide information and support to carers. | Northumberland |
| Links Housing Advice and Support for Young People | 60,000 | 3 year | To support homeless young people in Hexham, Northumberland. | Northumberland |
| Boro Asian Women’s Circle | 60,000 | 3 year | To support Asian older people. | Tees Valley |
| Women’s Support Network | 147,777 | 3 year | To support victims of sexual violence in Middlesbrough. | Tees Valley |
| Redcar and Cleveland Mind | 57,873 | 3 year | To support people with mental health problems. | Tees Valley |
| Washington Mind | 102,085 | 3 year | To support people with mental health problems in Sunderland. | Tyne & Wear |
| Northern Learning Trust | 117,910 | 3 year | To run a mentoring project for disadvantaged young people. | Tyne & Wear |
| Benwell Young People’s Development Group | 120,000 | 3 year | To run a detached youth work project in the west end of Newcastle. | Tyne & Wear |
| Sunderland Counselling Services | 115,500 | 3 year | To provide counselling for women who have experienced rape or childhood sexual abuse. | Tyne & Wear |
| South Tyneside Churches’ Key Project | 113,696 | 3 year | To work with young people, preventing them becoming homeless. | Tyne & Wear |
| Mark Butcher Associates | 79,960 | 1 year | A commission to run training for voluntary and community groups focusing on leadership and financial sustainability. | North East |
| Respect | 250,000 | 4 year | Towards a national research programme to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes designed to tackle the behaviour of perpetrators of domestic violence. | National |
Notes to editors:
Northern Rock Foundation is a charity and company limited by guarantee with an independent Board of Trustees that makes all decisions on governance, finance and policy. The Foundation aims to tackle disadvantage and improve quality of life in North East England and Cumbria. To do this, it invests money, time and expertise in charitable activities using several tools including grants, loans, training, research and demonstration projects. The Foundation’s work is delivered by a professional staff team of 13 based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Foundation was established when Northern Rock demutualised in 1997. Up to December 2007, the bank gave, by covenant, 5% of its annual pre-tax profits to the Foundation, totalling more than £190 million. The Foundation will receive a minimum of £15m a year in 2008, 2009 and 2010 from Northern Rock, as part of the arrangement under which the bank was taken into temporary public ownership. Maintaining this arrangement is a condition of any sale of the bank in that period. The Government has asked the bank’s board to identify a viable long-term future for the Foundation.