Fourteen east London groups receive grants from London City Airport
London City Airport has announced the successful applicants to the latest round of grants from the airport’s £75,000 Community Fund.
In total, £40,000 of funding has been awarded to 14 local groups and community organisations covering 12 East London boroughs including Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Lewisham, Bexley and Barking and Dagenham. Each successful applicant will receive grants of up to £3,000 to enable significant and positive change in their local communities.
Groups that have secured funding in this round include the Newham All Star Sports Academy (NASSA), which aims to build motivated, successful and responsible young adults by providing after school sports training; Richard House, a children’s hospice which provides palliative care for more than 300 children with life-shortening health conditions; Inspiring Your Imagination, a social enterprise which aims to empower young people by developing lifelong digital skills, and, Caritas Anchor House, a homelessness charity based in Canning Town which provides accommodation and skills support for single homeless adults.
Community Fund Trustee Cllr Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership & Engagement, said:
"I’m pleased to support the London City Airport Community Fund, which is providing vital financial resources to local groups across East London so they can help people in their time of need. Barking and Dagenham Council is working incredibly hard to support our residents during this very challenging time. Local partners such as businesses and community groups also have a key role to play in delivering support and services for vulnerable people. That is why I’m particularly delighted that two local charities - Triangoals and the Barking and Dagenham Youth Dance Ltd (BDYD) - have been successful in securing grants in this latest funding round."
Natasha Hart MBE, Chief Executive, Newham All Star Sports Academy (NASSA), said:
"It is impossible to over-state the damaging impact that COVID-19 has had on the mental health young people from the BAME and disadvantaged communities of East London. So many of them have reached out to NASSA during the past nine months to ask for help. With the generosity of London City Airport in supporting the Mentoring For Life project, NASSA can now give these young people the support they need and deserve."
Andrew Warburton, Corporate Partnerships Specialist, Caritas Anchor House, said:
"We are hugely grateful for this funding from London City Airport Community Fund, which will provide vital help for our residents searching for employment in 2021 by providing them with small amounts to help cover costs associated with their job search and training activities. This could include e-learning and training courses, travel costs for attending interviews or training sessions, contributions towards the costs of obtaining work attire, equipment or even covering the costs of exams required for specific roles. Thank you for helping us to support our residents during a very tough time."
Caleb Adeniyi, Director, Inspiring Your Imagination, said:
"We are very grateful that the London City Airport Community Fund and its trustees has chosen to support our online project that will make a positive impact to the lives of many Londoners. We look forward to delivering a fantastic project in 2021."
Kathryn Elvin, acting Head of Corporate Engagements and Partnerships, Richard House, said:
"To be a recipient of the London Community Fund in 2021 is fantastic news for our hospice. Across the past year we have offered respite and care to seriously ill children who have very complex needs, supporting the NHS in their battle against Covid-19 by taking children from hospital wards. These children are able to come to Richard House because of the higher levels of specialist training our nursing and care staff receive. We can only continue to deliver this training with the generous funding of donors like London City Airport’s Community Fund. This grant will support our hospice in continuing our vital work."
The new funding comes at a critical time for local communities surrounding the airport as East London continues to deal with the devastating impact of COVID-19.
The grants will provide a financial boost to these local community organisations working to support vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19, covering areas such as youth employment and training; physical and mental health and wellbeing; homelessness; food poverty; and loneliness and isolation.
The 14 local community groups receiving this latest round of funding are based in or are active in the following 12 London boroughs: Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Lambeth, Lewisham, Redbridge, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
Further information on the Community Fund is available here.
Interested parties are invited to apply to the next round of grants, with the application window due to close on 28th May 2021. Prospective applicants should contact Community.Fund@londoncityairport.com with any queries or questions.
Applications to the latest funding round closed on 25th October 2020, and the Board of Trustees considered a total of 66 applications from local groups and charitable organisations.
A judging panel reviewed the applications and scored them against a consistent set of criteria, with applicants asked to demonstrate how the funding would be used to support the Community Fund’s key themes of:
Building stronger, safer and healthier communities
Creating more sustainable and greener communities
Creating pathways into employment
Raising aspirations for East Londoners
The Community Fund was first launched in 2019 and provides £75,000 funding annually to support local charities and organisations that represent inclusive and diverse communities across East London.
Applications are invited twice per year and considered by a Board of Trustees comprised of representatives from London City Airport and the local community, alongside an independent chair.
Grants of up to £3000 are available for charities and not-for-profit organisations who can demonstrate their ability to enable significant and positive change for communities surrounding the airport.
Due to the impact of COVID-19 on East London, the airport together with its Trustees, took the decision to increase the amount of funding available last year. This resulted in an extra £50,000 being awarded to nine local foodbanks from across East London in April 2020 to help alleviate the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable residents.
