Giving money to charity is something most of us try do. For the vast majority it’s usually a case of putting a few loose coins into the box of a collector who’s standing outside your local supermarket. But what happens to your donation? If you are donating to a large national or even multinational charity it can be quite tricky to ascertain where it goes and who is benefitting.
That is where the Community Foundation succeeds. Money which is donated to a local Community Foundation will be used to help communities in those areas. There are 46 accredited Community Foundations covering much of the UK, making a difference to people’s lives and a difference to the places they serve, but the biggest and most successful of all is the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, based in Newcastle.
Last year it awarded grants worth £7,688,811. It supported 943 organisations and 243 individuals with an average grant size of £6482.98. The man leading from the front for the last ten years is Chief Executive Rob Williamson.
Rob has an incredible track record of helping people. It started when he was a student at York University, helping fellow students who were struggling with debt and housing problems. When he graduated in 1992 he moved to work in local charities helping homeless people. Later he went to Newcastle City Council to work in the policy team before joining the Northern Rock Foundation in 2003 as Director of Policy and Communications. July 2009 saw him move to the Community Foundation.
”I arrived at roughly the same time as when the effects of the recession were being seriously felt,” said Rob. ”It was the peak of the financial crash and a lot of people were finding the going tough. Like a lot of organisations, we had to make changes and think about our priorities. In one respect, ten years later, I’d like to think that we are a slick, efficient and very cost effective organisation which can give a maximum return on the donations we receive.”
For the past 16 years, Rob has been leading work in philanthropy. It’s important to remember that, in general terms, charitable giving tends to be short term, possibly one-off donations, whereas philanthropy is usually longer term and is often linked to a particular cause. It’s in the latter case where the Community Foundation succeeds because they will match your donation to a particular cause…possibly a cause which the person, family, group or business that is making the donation has a particular interest in. ”When I joined in 2009, we had an endowment of around £32m. It had plummeted from previous years. However in the last 10 years, we’ve grown that to £82m. The long term prospects look favourable. This is down to us having a great team here but also down to the simple fact that in the North East we are traditionally incredibly generous.
What we do as an organisation is help communities ride some of the waves of the shocks in the country. We’ve seen how austerity affects communities. If someone told me ten years ago that we would need foodbanks to help people, I wouldn’t have believed them. We have to be prepared for the future which is why we build an endowment for the future, not just the here and now. Another example is that communities could previously rely upon their local authority to lend a hand, but that doesn’t happen nowadays for the simple reason that the authorities do not have any spare cash. We have to step in to help.”
One of Rob’s main challenges is not only to attract philanthropy from individuals and businesses who want to help, but to also raise awareness. One of their latest campaigns surrounds holiday hunger amongst children. This applies to children who normally rely on free school meals during term time. However, once school holidays arrive, those children can go hungry and fall behind. The provision of funding allows the setting-up of holiday clubs and play groups which not only ensure these children are given a nutritious meal, it also gives them something to talk about when they return to school.
It’s really useful to go onto the www.communityfoundation. org.uk website because you will see examples of where grants go and the impact donors money can make. . For example, £4,000 will ensure that twelve children can attend one of those school holiday play schemes.
”The North East is incredibly generous,” added Rob. ”The only reason our foundation has been around for over 30 years is that people, families, businesses etc have supported us in terms of giving and devoting their time as trustees and volunteers. This region has a lot of entrepreneurial activities and a lot of established families who have always given back. We have a strong sense of community, a feeling of belonging, and we try to support the place where we live and work.”
If you are interested in the work of the Community Foundation, join them at #PoweredByPhilanthropy 2019, their three day event celebrating and debating philanthropy’s role in diversity and inclusion taking place 5-7th November. www.communityfoundation.org.uk/ poweredbyphilanthropy2019/
For more information or to talk about how you can get involved go to the website or call the Community Foundation team on 0191 222 0945.
