Archive News
October 2008
GRANTS TOTALLING £2.2 MILLION ANNOUNCED BY NORTHERN ROCK FOUNDATION
Northern Rock Foundation’s Trustees have announced details of grants totalling £2,199,993 awarded in their latest funding round. These 25 grants bring the Foundation’s funding in 2008 to £7.3 million, with Trustees expecting to award a further £3.7 million before the end of the year. The majority of the grants go towards tackling disadvantage across North East England and Cumbria. The Trustees have also made grants under their fund for culture and heritage projects that improve quality of life in the region.
Disadvantaged young people will benefit from six grants totalling £0.7m. Grant recipients include the Keyfund Federation, which will receive £210,000 over three years. The Keyfund will use the grant for its programme where young people across the North East work with each other to develop and run their own projects, learning important skills in the process. The Depaul Trust will receive £205,500 over three years to prevent re-offending by helping young people leaving custody in the North East to get housing and support. Groundwork in East Durham will receive £74,092 over three years for its programme where disadvantaged young people in Sunderland, East Durham and Hartlepool will work one-to-one with a mentor, helping them to set positive goals and move on in their lives.
Older people will receive help through the work of two organisations supported in this round. Age Concern Newcastle will use a grant of £120,000 over three years to provide advice and information on welfare benefits, pension credits and community care. Wansbeck Council for Voluntary Service will receive £45,000 over three years for its enabling project, where volunteers help older people to get out and about to appointments, to shops or to leisure facilities.
Two grants will fund work with victims of domestic abuse. Eva Women’s Aid on Teesside will use a grant of £90,000 over three years to work with victims in the community, providing both practical and emotional help. Stonham (part of Home Group) will receive £134,632 to help victims of domestic abuse from black and minority ethnic groups in Tyne and Wear access support and services.
Under their culture fund, Trustees have awarded grants to a range of high-quality arts projects, exhibitions and festivals. The National Glass Centre in Sunderland, Durham Arts Gallery and the world music festival on Teesside are all set to benefit. In Cumbria, the Civic Trust has been awarded a grant to expand the heritage skills network. Trustees have also funded a two-year programme to encourage and support collaboration and improved financial resilience for the region’s major cultural organisations.
Alastair Balls, Chairman of Northern Rock Foundation, said: “The Trustees are delighted to announce these latest awards from the Foundation. We invest our funds in organisations whose expertise and hard work makes a huge difference to the lives of people disadvantaged by poverty, age and difficult circumstances across the North East and Cumbria. Meanwhile, our culture fund continues to support our area’s creative talent, bringing the benefits of the Foundation’s investments to a wider public who enjoy the vast array of arts and heritage programmes our region has to offer. We greatly value the contribution of everyone we support to improving lives across our area.”
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.
Full list of funding approved in October 2008
Grants to tackle disadvantage:
Organisation |
Amount £ |
Term |
Description |
Area served |
Keyfund Federation |
210,000 |
3 year |
To fund a development programme for young people’s own projects in the North East and Cumbria. |
North East and Cumbria |
Depaul Trust |
205,500 |
3 year |
To support young offenders in the North East to find and keep a home on their release from custody. |
North East |
Finchale Training College |
71,442 |
3 year |
To continue a resettlement programme for ex-offenders in the North East with mental health problems. |
North East |
Durham University |
45,189 |
2 year |
To develop tools to measure the impact of rape crisis services on the health of victims. |
North East |
Media 19 |
34,847 |
1 year |
To work with young parents in the North East through a digital self-portrait project. |
North East |
Groundwork East Durham |
74,092 |
3 year |
Towards a mentoring programme for disadvantaged young people living in Sunderland, East Durham and Hartlepool. |
County Durham |
Newton Aycliffe Mind |
38,461 |
3 year |
To support people living in Sedgefield, County Durham, experiencing mental health problems. |
County Durham |
Trinity Youth Association |
64,592 |
2 year |
To support lesbian, gay and bisexual young people in south-east Northumberland. |
Northumberland |
Wansbeck Centre for Voluntary Service |
45,000 |
3 year |
Towards a volunteering project helping older people get out and about in Wansbeck, Northumberland. |
Northumberland |
Eva Women's Aid Ltd |
90,000 |
3 year |
Towards the advocacy and outreach service for victims of domestic abuse in Redcar. |
Tees Valley |
Home Group Ltd (Stonham) |
134,632 |
3 year |
To provide an outreach service to black and minority ethnic women and children on Tyneside affected by domestic violence. |
Tyne & Wear |
Mobex North East |
132,096 |
3 year |
To run development programmes for disadvantaged young people in and around Tyneside using outdoor activities. |
Tyne & Wear |
Age Concern Newcastle |
120,000 |
3 year |
To provide information and advice for older people on welfare benefits. |
Tyne & Wear |
Gateshead People |
100,710 |
3 year |
To run this self-advocacy organisation for people with learning disabilities. |
Tyne & Wear |
The Art Studio |
60,000 |
3 year |
Towards running the arts studio for people with mental health problems in Sunderland. |
Tyne & Wear |
The Derwent Initiative |
40,000 |
1 year |
To develop a strategic approach to prevent and manage sexual offending by young people in the North East. |
North East |
Sunderland Mind |
25,000 |
2 year |
To support people with mental health problems. |
Tyne & Wear |
Culture fund grants
Organisation |
Amount £ |
Term |
Description |
Area served |
National Glass Centre |
150,000 |
2 year |
Towards a programme of exhibitions at the Centre in Sunderland. |
Tyne & Wear |
MMM/Deft |
130,000 |
2 year |
Towards developing collaborative working and financial sustainability for cultural organisations in the North East. |
North East |
North of England Civic Trust |
129,432 |
2 year |
To expand the heritage skills network. |
Cumbria |
Tees Valley Arts |
75,000 |
3 year |
Towards a programme of high quality music events at Worldfest in Middlesbrough. |
Tees Valley |
Hexham Book Festival |
64,000 |
3 year |
Towards the costs of the festival in Northumberland. |
Northumberland |
Durham County Council |
60,000 |
3 year |
To develop an enhanced visual arts programme at the DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery. |
Durham |
Northumberland Strategic Partnership |
50,000 |
1 year |
Towards a series of sound and light installations in Northumberland during the winter. |
Northumberland |
Surface Area Dance Theatre CIC |
50,000 |
2 year |
To develop this contemporary dance company based in Newcastle. |
Tyne & Wear |