Grant funding of over £90,000 has been awarded to 27 charities across the North of England by Newcastle Building Society, making it the largest ever single allocation of small grant funding from its Community Fund.
Charities helping hundreds of people across the North East and Cumbria have received a major funding boost this spring after the Society detailed the latest round of grants through the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland.
27 organisations have received a total of £91,931 to support projects relating to debt management, employability, food poverty, and the environment.
The fund provides grants to charities and community groups located in or around the communities served by the Society’s branch network.
Charities benefitting from grants of between £2,000 and £5,000 include the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, the Berwick Community Development Trust, Newcastle-based West End Women and Girls, Grace House in Sunderland, and Community Campus 87, which is located in Middlesbrough.
Donna Stubbs, community manager at Newcastle Building Society, said: “We received a record number of applications for funding to the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund, and our latest round of grants is the largest single donation of small grants we’ve made in one go.
“Key issues faced by communities in our region around debt management, employability, food poverty and the environment are all important to our members, so targeting financial support towards organisations focussed on these themes has been a priority.”
She added: “As a Society we’re proud to be able to make such a substantial contribution to these vital local organisations that work tirelessly to improve the lives of those facing hardship in our region, however this record number of applications is a sobering reflection of the struggles people in our communities are facing on a daily basis.”
Since its launch in 2016, Newcastle Building Society’s Community Fund has contributed over £2.3m in grants and partnerships to a wide variety of charities and projects across the region, including support for Newcastle United Foundation, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the Prince’s Trust.
In 2022 total community contributions made up of grants, match funding, and ongoing partnership donations, was more than £544,000.
