Nominating Local Charities

AWBS Charities Funded in 2012-2013 and Charity Slate (Continuing Charities) for 2013-2014

The following five charities received grants in 2012-2013 and will receive a second grant in May 2013 from proceeds from our Philanthropy fundraising.

ABC (Assisting Berkshire Children) to read provides a mentoring scheme which links community volunteers with children who are underachieving at school, lack confidence in their abilities and suffer from experience a range of disadvantages in their home backgrounds. Volunteers work one-on-one with children in 50 primary schools across Berkshire to improve children's reading, confidence, self-esteem and attitudes to reading so that their access future education, training and employment can be improved.

2011-2012 grant of £1,500 for two courses for parents to support their children's reading and to become volunteer reading mentors and one puzzle session to help children develop skills to support their literacy, such as memory, concentration and visual perception

Contact Details: Tessa Dove - Chief Officer
Work Tel: 01189 511 336 Mobile Tel: 07913 986 005 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.abctoread.org.uk
Ascot Day Centre is a home from home for the elderly of Sunninghill, Ascot and Sunningdale, offering members an opportunity to meet friends and to socialise, in a structured and safe environment allowing them to remain active and live in their own homes for as long as possible.
2011-2012 grant of £1,380 grant for new curtains for the Ascot building.
Contact Details: Dr Geoffrey Donovan, Chairman Ascot District Day Centre Benefactors
Work Tel: 01344 627197 Mobile Tel: 07801 551026 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.ascotdaycentre.co.uk
Bracknell and District Citizens Advice Bureau supports residents across Bracknell Forest Borough and Sunninghill (at a drop in centre at the Ascot Day Centre) with free, impartial and confidential advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. Core activities are advice on Benefits, Debt, Consumer matters, Employment, Housing, Relationships and Personal problems, Tax, Immigration and Education problems.
2011-2012 grant of £1,000 grant for training courses for two staff members to attend a 'Supervising Volunteers' course and for two specialists in employment and debt and other staff training.
Contact Details: John Moore - Trustee
Tel: 01344 451 889 Mobile Tel: 0751 3085182 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.bracknellcab.org.uk
Eikon is a Surrey-based charity which supports vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in their pivotal teenage years. Eikon provides one-to-one mentoring and group work activities, with the aim of helping young people overcome significant challenges in their lives. Its vision is to help young people become happy, healthy young adults who are able to positively contribute to society.

2011-2012 grant of £4,660 Grant for 40% of the total costs of a Summer Residential at a Devon outdoor activity centre for young people dealing with issues such as low self-esteem and confidence; anger management or behavioural issues; those coping with depression or self-harming; those overcoming a bereavement, experiencing family problems or suffering from deprivation and inequality.

Contact Details: Jessica Maybanks - Fundraising and Development Manager
Work Tel: 01932 347 434 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www. eikon.org.uk

your Sanctuary provides a range of services which offer emotional and practical support to people and their children who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse and works to prevent domestic abuse and undo the damage it does to individuals, families and communities. Your Sanctuary offers the only Domestic abuse outreach service for North West Surrey, and the only agency in a position to offer a children's programme in Woking, Runnymede and Surrey Heath

2011-2012 grant of £1,500 for a family outing to promote family healing those living in two Surrey refuges who have fled domestic abuse and for the "Freedom" program for women to review over their experience to better understand tactics used against them and to enhance their confidence and self esteem, and positive assertiveness skills.

Contact Details: Fiamma Pather - Operations Manager
Work Tel: 01483 776868 Mobile: 07766 880967
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.yoursanctuary.org.uk

Charity Slate Nominations 2013/2014

Deadline for nominations  Friday 8 March 2013

Charity Selection Chair- Alison Hunt

Please email your nominations to Alison at

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Nominations received as of 28 Feb 2012

 

  • Alzheimers NW Surrey Chapter
  • ABC to Read
  • Ascot Day Centre
  • Aik.Saath
  • Riverside Day Centre
  • Your Sanctuary

 

 

Charity Nominations Procedures

Information to help you find a charity in future as below:

Finding a charity to nominate:

We suggest several ways to help you find a charity:
• Look at localgiving.com, type in your postcode and review the results

All charities on localgiving.com have been checked by the Berkshire Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Surrey, two independent charitable trusts that act as peak/umbrella fundraising and grant giving bodies for each county. This website works best for Berkshire charities but also has a small selection of Surrey charities.

• Contact your closest volunteering centre
(based in Reading, Slough, Windsor, Chertsey for Runnymeade charities, Staines for Spelthorne charities, Guildford for South West charities, Camberley for Surrey Heath, and Woking) listed on the AWBS Philanthropy  - Volunteering in Your Local Community section and ask them to help you find a charity that you are interested in (you may need to be logged in to the AWBS website first)

• Contact the VP Philanthropy if you are still stuck to help you find a local charity that mirrors your interests.

Criteria

Please note our minimum eligibility criteria for nomination below:

  • The charity must benefit residents in Surrey or Berkshire counties.
  • The charity must not be affiliated with a religious or political organization.
  • The charity must have a registered charity number (most charities will put this number on their websites).

Under English law, registered charities meeting our criteria have the following purposes including, but not limited to the following areas:
• prevention or relief of poverty
• education
• health or the saving of lives
• citizenship or community development
• arts, culture, heritage or science
• amateur sport
• human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or equality and diversity
• environmental protection or improvement
• relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
• animal welfare


What Happens Next:
• All charities are checked to ensure they meet the minimum eligibility criteria and have a charitable purpose.
• All charities meeting the minimum criteria are contacted to confirm their details via an Eligibility Criteria Questionnaire which seeks extra information and confirms eligibility.
• Charities meeting the minimum eligibility criteria are contacted to submit a more detailed Request for Funding (an Application).
• Requests for Funding (Applications) are reviewed by the Charity Selection Committee and undergo a more detailed assessment using a set of criteria based on AWBS philanthropic policies.
• The charities that best meet the organisation's policies are then recommended for funding and/or voluntary support to the AWBS Board for approval.
• Funds for the successful charities will be distributed in the spring from the year's fundraising activities (AWBS Holiday Craft and Gift Fayre, vendors' donations from the "Best of Britain" room and other activities).
• A slate of Charities to receive funding for the next year will be also be announced at the same time, along with any charities that are to receive voluntary support.

Points to Note:
Whilst all charities are carefully reviewed by the Charity Selection Committee, AWBS is unable to fund all the charities that are nominated.

All AWBS members involved in the charity selection process will need to declare any conflicts of interest with the nominated charities and abstain from any discussion on any nominated charity/charities that they are personally connected to.

Mini-grants are small grants of up to £500.

How You Can Get Involved:
Nominations for Charities and the Charity Selection Committee are now closed.

Social Disadvantage in Berkshire and Surrey

To learn more about the issues facing the local communities in which most members live, your attention is drawn to the work that the two county community foundations do.

The Community Foundation for Surrey and the Berkshire Community Foundation are both independent charitable trusts that inspire local giving across their counties and provide grants to small voluntary groups that tackle grassroots needs.

Each community foundation has prepared a report which summarises the social disadvantage in Surrey and Berkshire and highlights examples of how those communities are currently helping those in need. These reports may help you identify an area of need that resonates with you and other AWBS members.

An an example, the latest statistics in Surrey reveal:

* Child poverty is well over 30% and as high as 44% in some areas of the county, with this figure worryingly increasing since 2001 reports.
* 35.8% of children in some areas of Surrey live in a household headed by a lone parent.
* The South East has the highest rates of sickness absence in the country with mental and stress related illnesses the greatest factors.

More details are available here:

"Hidden Surrey" Report

"The Hidden Need in Berkshire" Report

Maria Gordon

VP Philanthropy

Cell: 0797 283 2346

 

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