Firstly, a thank you...

I want to start this blog off with a thank you to all of the amazing community groups that continue to be there and provide such essential services to residents right across the town. We know that it is still tough for everyone out there. Charities and community work is never more needed.

Our grants- an update

We launched our grants round for the year back in March – and it’s open until the end of September. All the details on what we are focusing on, and how to apply can be found here:

Find out how to apply

Where we are now

One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced as a trust over the past 15 months is the reduction in our grants budget. Community groups continue to face unprecedented demand for their services, often in the face of challenging financial situations and forecasts, and grant funding across the board is even more in demand, and competition for funding even more fierce.

We appreciate that our grants are a vital source of funds for many organisations working locally, engaging and supporting some of the most vulnerable residents. Having a reduced budget, both in 2020 and 2021, is far from ideal. We are 100% committed to putting as much money into our budget for grants as we possibly can this year – as well as looking at how we can support amazing ideas and projects in different ways.

We’d love to have unlimited amounts of money to provide multi-year grants – we know how important longer-term financial support is to help planning and strategy development. But sadly, we aren’t in that space right now – as a charity we’ve also faced considerable challenges alongside you all.

So, my questions to community groups are these:

  1. Aside from grant funding, what else could we do to add value, support your work and the people you work with?
  2. What would you like to see from us in our role as a local funder? What do you think is most important when you think of our relationship with you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop me an email at james.mchugh@stratfordtowntrust.co.uk – either with your answers and musings or if you’d like to schedule in a chat about anything Grants related! And feel free to reply to us on social media @OurTownTrust on twitter or StratforduponAvonTownTrust on Facebook too.