The WightAID Foundation has given an early Christmas present to eight local charities and organisations, with grants totalling £9,300.
The WightAID Foundation works with Island companies, investors, and individuals to support charitable projects on the Isle of Wight that support local people and places. To date it has granted over £480k to 176 different charities and community organisations on the Island.
Members of the charitable foundation together with one of its business partners WRS Systems, that does a lot as a company to support WightAid, presented cheques to eight charities at a special grant giving ‘get together’ hosted by the foundation.
Those benefiting from the grant funding included the following local charities and organisations:
- Isle of Wight Games Association which aims to advance amateur sport for the public benefit. Their grant will go towards attending the XIX NatWest International Island Games in Guernsey in July 2023.
- The Isle of Wight Youth Trust which provides youth-led wellbeing and therapeutic support when it is needed. They aim to empower Island Children and young people to face life’s challenges. The grant funding will go towards transitional counselling services.
- IOW NHST Children in Care Team which has been given grant funding towards providing their Children in Care with Christmas gifts.
- Community Spirited Café which was founded in 2007 and has a vision to put the community spirit well and truly back into the Island. They aim to bring people together and to stop loneliness and isolation. Their funding will help to buy slow cookers and hand blenders to give out to food pantry members when they do their demonstrations, enabling people to learn efficient ways of cooking healthy meals.
- The Royal Isle of Wight Agricultural Society which has been given support to help Island Primary Schools afford transport to attend theAgricultural Society’s Educational Day in May 2023 to raise awareness of agriculture and thenatural environment on the Island.
- Lanesend Primary School which has been given funds towards costume sets and travel to attend the annual ‘Dance Live Performance’ at the Guildhall Portsmouth in February 2023.
- Nettlestone Primary School which has been given a grant towards the construction of a Mental Health and Well-Being room. This will enable them to support a growing number of children that are demonstrating a need for this facility.
- WightSAR which provide skilled volunteers to assist Hampshire Constabulary and otheragencies in searches for vulnerable missing persons on the Island. They have been given funds towards the upgrade and transfer of their 12 metre retractable Radio Communication Aerial for their replacement Incident Control Vehicle.
Underwood: Beneficial for Island charities meet each other
WightAID’s Founder, Geoff Underwood said,
“It was so lovely to meet some of the amazing people behind the charities we supported this month.
“We believe it is beneficial that Island charities meet each other and share common challenges in the voluntary sector, as well as the opportunity to provide an overview of each other’s objectives as a charity.”
Porter: We welcome more businesses to come and get involved
Steve Porter, Trustee, said,
“WightAID’s trustees meet on a regular basis to give a thorough assessment of all our grant applications. There was a high demand this month – perhaps an indication of the current climate under which many of these organisations are struggling to operate. While it is simply not possible to support them all, we hope that those that we have been able to support on this occasion will be able to make a real difference to people in our local community.
“We welcome more businesses to come and get involved with WightAid and help us provide much needed funding to a growing number of charities and local organisations that need our support to continue their valuable work.”
The WightAid Foundation is supported by partners from the Island’s business community. Applications for grant support can be applied for online.
News shared by Claire on behalf of WightAid. Ed
