Past News
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British Red Cross
10.06.2010Refugees and asylum seekers are amongst the most vulnerable people in the UK, suffering from poverty, high levels of isolation, lack of access to services, racism, prejudice and discrimination. Thousands simply cannot afford food or clothing and lack basic essentials, like toiletries. Many recognise the Red Cross from their country of origin so turn to them in the first instance. British Red Cross in Bristol have been providing needs-led support to refugees and asylum seekers since the beginning of 2008. The Foundation awarded a grant of £1,000 at the May Trustees' Meeting to help towards their work in Bristol.
Web Site: British Red Cross
FareShare South West
21.04.2010Congratulations to FareShare South West! Winners of "Britain's Most Admired Charity" received at the Third Sector Awards earlier this month.
Thousands of tonnes of perfectly good in-date food are landfilled each year as a result of packaging errors, promotions and discontinued lines yet there are over 4 million people in the UK who cannot afford a healthy diet. Among this 4 million are the homeless, elderly, disadvantaged children, refugees, the mentally ill and those with physical health problems.
FareShare South West was set up in 2007 to work with both the food industry and disadvantaged members of the Bristol Community to address this imbalance by redistributing quality surplus food to groups working with vulnerable individuals in and around Bristol. FareShare also offers volunteering and training opportunities in their Bristol based warehouse.
The Foundation has awarded grants, over a 2 year period, of £60,000 to assist with the running costs of this charity.
Web Site: FareShare South West
At- Bristol
17.03.20102010 is At-Bristol's 10th anniversary and to mark this important milestone they will almost completely redevelop the Ground Floor of Explore. A new exhibition called 'All About Us' will enable visitors to explore new and exciting elements of human biology and environmental science using a mixture of highly interactive exhibits. This will teach new concepts as well as extend prior knowledge and skills. Visitors to At-Bristol will be able to conduct their own experiments in the "Live Lab". The Foundation awarded a grant of £10,000 which will significantly contribute towards the fitting-out of the laboratory preparation area which forms an integral part of this exhibition.
Web Site: At-Bristol
SkillForce
15.03.2010The Trustees recently awarded a grant of £4,000 to SkillForce to contribute towards its work in Bristol. SkillForce works with secondary schools aiming to encourage and motivate young people, who might otherwise find it difficult to succeed in education, to reach their full potential. The instructors, many ex-service personnel, instil respect and mutual support and act as positive role models. They assist the young people to succeed by inspiring an "I Can" attitude to life. The mix of classroom learning and outdoor team building activities ensures that the programme remains motivational and interesting.
Web Site: Skill Force
Relate Avon
14.03.2010Relate Avon provides emotional and psychological support for families by offering skilled assistance to those that are experiencing difficulties. Typically these families have to deal with conflict,domestic violence, divorce, very difficult children and school absence. A range of services are offered to deal with these issues including counselling, psychosexual therapy and lifeskills training. The grant of £1,500, recently awarded by the Foundation, will enable Relate Avon to purchase two new computers to improve the service offered to its clients.
Web Site: Relate Avon
Church Housing Trust
08.03.2010At the February Trustees' meeting £10,000 was awarded to Church Housing Trust to assist with their fundraising to refurbish the shared kitchens and provide fridges for homeless people at the hostel based in Jamaica Street. The Hostel provides 57 bed spaces for homeless men and women with a broad range of support needs including substance misuse, alcohol dependency and mental health problems. The ethos is to offer support and give residents the confidence and skills they need to make a successful transition to independent living.
Web Site: Church Housing Trust
The SPACE Trust
03.02.2010SPACE is a Bristol based charity which addresses the needs of homeless families in Bristol, working alongside them by offering friendship, advice and practical support. A large part of The SPACE Trust's work involves the collection and redistribution of unwanted furniture within Bristol. A homeless family can have nothing when moving from a hostel into permanent accommodation and this service enables them to have a choice of donated items. The family is thus helped to create a home and has a greater chance of settling. The Foundation awarded a grant of £12,000 at the November trustees' meeting to help towards van running costs and warehouse rental, critical for the operation of the charity.
Web Site: The Space Trust
Paul's Place
19.01.2010Paul's Place is a charity that supports physically, cognitive and sensory impaired adults in Bristol. The aim is to provide a quality of life for all physically impaired adults aged 18-60, enabling them to gain the most fulfilled life members can achieve. Many services are provided at Paul's Place including day facility, evening activities, respite trips and a carers' support programme. Over the last two years the membership in Bristol has doubled and the charity has sought to increase the size, offering new facilities throughout. Following the charity's extensive fundraising, the Foundation has awarded a grant of £10,000 to help reach the target.
Web Site: Paul's Place
Trees for Cities
11.01.2010Trees for Cities aims to enrich biodiversity, tackle global warming, create social cohesion and beautify our cities through community tree planting, education and training initiatives in urban areas of the greatest need. A grant of £1,500 was recently awarded by the Foundation to Trees for Cities to assist with the costs of The Ridgeway Cycle route transformation in Bristol. The local community are planting over 3,000 trees along the cycle path that runs along The Ridgeway playing fields in the Hillfields area of the city, providing a screen from the adjacent industrial site which will then encourage the path's use by pedestrians and cyclists.
Web Site: Trees for Cities
Concorde Wheelchair Dancers
14.12.2009The Concorde Wheelchair Dancers are a group of physically disabled people of all ages and physical disabilities who enjoy dancing, both socially and competitively. In November 2010 the group will compete in The British Wheelchair Dancers Championships in Blackpool. The Foundation has awarded a grant of £1,650 to the group to enable them to use a specially adapted coach to take them to The Championships.
Web Site: Concorde Wheelchair Dancers
The Fire Fighters Charity
07.10.2009A grant of £1,000 was recently awarded to The Fire Fighters Charity to support its work in the Bristol area. The Charity offers various means of support to serving and retired Fire Fighters and their dependants. This support includes a beneficiary support service where help and advice is provided through a national helpline, putting beneficiaries in touch with local support coordinators and booking them into one of the Charity's three rehabilitation centres. Fire Fighters in Bristol would get use of Harcombe House in Devon. Harcombe House is unique in that it offers, at no cost to the beneficiaries, both therapy for those suffering from injury, illness or severe stress and recuperative breaks to provide rest and promote recovery and well being after life changing events.
Web Site: The Fire Fighters Charity
Caring at Christmas
25.09.2009A grant of £5,000 was awarded at the August Trustees' meeting towards the work of Caring at Christmas. Caring at Christmas operates in Bristol over the Christmas week providing much needed shelter to the City's homeless. The basic needs that many of us take for granted are supplied, hot meals, clean clothes, laundry facilities and a bed for the night plus the little extras, a friendly face and a listening ear. Last year Caring at Christmas served over 1600 hot meals with their 400 strong volunteering team making a real difference to the homeless of Bristol.
Web Site: Caring at Christmas
Lifeskills Bristol
24.09.2009A grant of 2,000 was awarded to Lifeskills Bristol towards the cost and delivery of safety education and training for older people. Lifeskills-Learning for Living is a permanent regional safety education and training centre built as a realistic village in The Create Centre. It is designed to help children, adults with learning difficulties and older people learn about safety in a fun and practical way. The village has houses, a shop, building site, playground, stream, railway and farm. All of these deliver various safety messages with the help of the volunteer guides in the centre.
Web Site: Lifeskills
Christians Against Poverty
23.09.2009A grant of £2,390 has been awarded to Christians Against Poverty to assist with the Northwest Bristol Centre's running costs. In the current economic downturn, 10.3 million people nationwide have been hit so badly that they rely on credit cards or other borrowing to pay for everyday living expenses. Once in debt, they may then miss out on regular meals in order to pay off the debts and can often see no way out. Christians Against Poverty offers a unique face to face service offering debt counselling, budgeting advice, creditor negotiation and personal support, enabling clients to work their way out of unmanageable debt.
Web Site: Christians Against poverty
Seals Starfish Club
08.06.2009Seals Starfish Club offers the opportunity for families with children with physical disabilities, special needs or ongoing complex medical conditions, the chance to have fun and quality family time together in a hydrotherapy pool in the heart of Bristol. The club offers therapy and other sensory stimuli during the session, but also a chance for the whole family to have fun together, which can be a welcome release from daily pressures. The grant of £4,000 secured for two years, will enable the club to provide physio services from September 2009, cover travel costs for those families who currently find it difficult to attend, and the security of knowing that the hire of the pool is secured for next year.
The Rainbow Centre for Children
01.06.2009The Rainbow Centre is situated in a quiet residential area of Bristol, and provides a haven of peace for children and their families suffering from the effects of a life threatening illness or death in the family. The focus of the Centre is on the well being of children. Art, music and group therapies are all used to explore the children's difficult feelings and fears, thus enabling them to cope with their grief. The recent grant of £2,000 from The Foundation will pay for advertising materials and essential utility costs for the Centre.
Web Site: The Rainbow Centre
Bristol Care and Repair
13.05.2009Following a recent trustees meeting, the trust awarded £15,718 to Bristol Care and Repair to enable them to purchase a new handyperson van. The multi-skilled handyperson service offers vital assistance to older and disabled people across Bristol. Last year they completed over 8,000 small but essential repairs and adaptations to people's homes thus helping them to live as independently as possible. The new van enables the handyman to hold the tools and spare parts required, he is then able to make the best use of his time rather than continually returning to stock up on parts.
Web Site: Bristol Care and Repair
Whizz-Kidz
05.04.2009A grant of £6,000 was recently made to Whizz-Kidz to help provide customised mobility equipment, training and advice to disabled children throughout Bristol. Whizz-Kidz is a national charity that improves the quality of life by giving disabled children the independance to live their lives to the full through the provision of mobility equipment, support and training.
Web Site: Whizz-Kidz
InterAct
30.03.2009At a recent meeting the Foundation granted £2,500 towards InterAct's work in Bristol. InterAct run performing art groups throughout the country for children with special needs and children from low income families. The grant will enable the charity to continue the holiday workshops in Bristol. The workshops are held throughout the summer and help build both skills, self confidence and enable children from many different backgrounds to perform together.
The Princess Royal Trust Carers Centre
25.03.2009At a recent meeting the Foundation granted £1,500 to The Princess Royal Trust Carers Centre to give support with transport costs. A frequent problem for carers is poor access to transport and, as a result, many carers do not take part in social or support activities which can lead to increased pressure and a sense of isolation. The Carers Centre provides a wide range of services to carers, and supports approximately 5,000 unpaid family carers in the Bristol area.
Web Site: Princess Royal Trust Carers Centre
133rd Bristol (Newfoundland) Scout Group
05.03.2009At a recent trustees' meeting, the Foundation granted £5,000 to 133rd Bristol (Newfoundland) Scout Group to assist with the costs of running transport to enable Scouts, who would otherwise find it impossible to get to a meeting, to attend. The 133rd Bristol(Newfoundland) Scout Group provides scouting to those who are unable to attend their local Scout Group which may be a result of wheelchair access, or specialist care needed.
Web Site: 133rd Bristol Newfoundland Scout Group
Florence Brown Community School
25.02.2009Following the November trustees' meeting, £2,500 was granted to The Florence Brown Community School to assist in funding a residential activity trip for the children. The school is a Bristol based special school that works successfully with young people who have a range of complex needs. Work is done on an individual basis with each child depending on their needs.
Web Site: Florence Brown Community School
Victim Support
20.02.2009In November, the Foundation made a donation of £10,000 towards the ongoing work of the local branch of Victim Support. Last year Victim Support in Avon worked with over 20,000 victims of crime in Bristol. Support is offered to all referred victims by telephone and, for those Victims who need it, a trained volunteer offers ongoing support. In addition the charity supports witnesses of crime and helps applicants who are pursuing Criminal Injuries Compensation. Victim Support also provides specialist support to victims of domestic abuse.
Web Site: Victim Support Avon
Barnardo's Bristol BASE Project
28.01.2009During the November meeting the trustees awarded Barnardos £25,000 towards the work of Barnardo’s Bristol BASE. The Bristol BASE Project (Barnardo’s Against Sexual Exploitation) works with young people at risk of sexual exploitation or who are being sexually exploited. The project provides a safe environment in which to work with the young people to help them understand their exploitation, promote safety and self-esteem and to raise their aspirations.
Web Site: Barnardo's Bristol BASE Project
Asthma Relief
21.01.2009In August, the Foundation donated £1,000 to Asthma Relief, which will be used to provide breathing equipment such as nebulisers and air freshening machines within the Childrens Hospital in the City of Bristol. Asthma Relief provides breathing equipment, advice and support to asthma sufferers. As well as placing machines in hospitals, health centres and individual's homes, the charity services and maintains all equipment, provides a 24-hour helpline and raises awareness about the condition via the internet and by giving talks.
Web Site: Asthma Relief
Bristol Old Vic
09.07.2007The Foundation recently pledged £250,000 to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre, one of the country’s oldest working theatres. As featured widely in the press, the Bristol Old Vic has announced a start date for the £7 million programme of renovation works. The theatre closes on 1 August 2007 for preparation work for the refurbishment which will include new seating, a new air cooling system, lifting of the stalls floor levels for improved stage visibility and installation of disabled lift access as well as structural repairs. To donate towards the £2 million still required please follow the link to their website.
Web Site: Save Bristol Old Vic
John James Blue Plaque
21.03.2006On 25th July 2006 John James would be 100 years old.
It is fitting therefore that a Blue Plaque was unveiled today on the site of John's birthplace - 96 Philip Street, Bedminster. This is the site now of Windmill Hill City Farm.