58 local good causes receive a total of nearly £175,000 in grants from Greenham Common Trust and West Berkshire Partnership

Greenham Common Trust and West Berkshire Partnership announce grants of £171,250 to 58 arts, conservation, community, health, sport and leisure, education and disability organisations in West Berkshire and north Hampshire.

The charitable trust, which has given over £20 million to local good causes since 1997, has just announced its latest reactive grant round where it distributed £130,000 alongside the local strategic partnership which gave £43,500.

The Trust has given nearly £9,500 to the Thomas Slater Fund to go towards constructing a new BMX bike track at Henwick Worthy Sports Field in Thatcham in memory of the Thatcham teenager Thomas Slater who was sadly killed in a motorbike accident last year.

The Fund managed to raise over £25,000 for the project in less than three months after putting their application on Greenham Common Trust’s fundraising website www.findmeagrant.org and started a fundraising campaign. Friends, family and local businesses donated nearly £13,500 and the Trust matched £5,170 of those donations through its Trust Top-Up scheme and administered £2,744.50 of Gift Aid through findmeagrant.  The Trust also gave a grant of £4,318 to allow the Fund to go ahead with the project.

Thomas’ father Paul said: “I have to thank all at Greenham Common Trust and findmeagrant for all your help and support, without this we wouldn't have been able to complete our target. We have had a lot of help from friends and family to make this so successful and to them we also thank.

“The fund matching was a massive inspiration to all those that made a donation, they could see that every time a donation was made it was doubled and the gift aid added, making a bigger impact on our target! And with no charges from GCT we received the whole donation.

“Findmeagrant worked very, very well for us. Being able to fund raise and then awarded a grant was the topping on the cake for all our hard work. We would certainly approach findmeagrant in the future to help us fund raise, and could only recommend you to any local projects which need funding and help.”
  

Mr Slater added that because the funding was raised so quickly the local community will benefit from the BMX track much sooner than envisaged.

Thames Valley Amateur Boxing Club received £5,000 each from Greenham Common Trust and West Berkshire Partnership to help pay for refurbishing premises next to the Newbury Weekly News to build a new home for the boxing club and for new equipment.

The club, which has been running for 56 years in West Berkshire, will have to move from its existing home at Trinity School in June and requires the grant to turn the industrial unit on Faraday Road into sustainable training premises. The works include installing changing facilities and toilets for men & women, electrics and building works. It will also include the installation of some basic equipment.

The club’s fundraiser Janice Cooke said: “Receiving this grant is brilliant news. We would not have been able to move to new premises or run the club without the support of the Trust and the Partnership, so thank you. The club really gives young people a positive channel for letting off steam, encouraging discipline and helping them to get fit and healthy.”   

The club, which runs boxing sessions from 10 years and upwards and focusses its sparring support for young adults, is still fundraising. To make a donation please visit www.findmeagrant/westberks and search for Thames Valley Amateur Boxing Club.    

All the grants were distributed through the Trust’s fundraising website www.findmeagrant.org where applicants register and make a single application for funding and donations. The Trust matches donations (where applicable) and administers Gift Aid. The service is free for grant applicants, grant makers and donors in West Berkshire and North Hampshire.  Since its launch in September 2011 www.findmeagrant.org has helped to distributed over £2m in funds to local organisations, including £313,000 in donations, £206,000 in Trust Top-Up and over £58,000 in Gift Aid payments. There are currently 536 applicants using findmeagrant and other grant funders include West Berkshire Council, Englefield Charitable Trust, The Peter Baker Foundation, Greater Greenham Partnership, Hungerford Town Council, Thatcham Town Council. Applications can be made at any time. Just visit www.findmeagrant.og and select West Berkshire or Hampshire. 
The deadline for the next round of reactive grants is October 18th 2013.

View a full list of grant recipients here.