Hull groups making a difference to people’s lives meet funder

We recently had a great visit to Hull with Ella Hingley from the Dulverton Trust to introduce her to three organisations who had benefited from funding from them.

The Dulverton Trust Fund has distributed  £85,916 in 18 small grants in the last year through Two Ridings with a focus on general welfare and youth opportunities alongside conservation and preservation. 34% of that funding was made in Hull.

Of course we got a big old Hull welcome, and our first visit was with The Peel Project who received funding to run various activities including a three month community kitchen programme alongside a twice weekly fitness sessions for women, many of whom English is a second language for.

We were warmly welcomed by Jamal and Salem and were shown around their facilities, heard some incredible stories and their plans for future.

We heard how one of their containers had been gifted to them by the police and how it was set up as a bike repair hub. The people from the communities they support can now come along and get their bikes fixed for free, which not only gets them more mobile, but is also crucial for getting to and from work.

We went on to H-CAS (Humber Community Advice Service) meeting Chief Officer Peter, along with some of the trustees and services users.

H-CAS are using their funding to continue to help ethnic minority groups who are particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable in society, facing poverty, unemployment, housing difficulties, discrimination, and cultural differences, which are made worse by difficulties in accessing services and support because of the language barrier.

They are providing free, confidential advice and advocacy services across a range of issues and are working collaboratively to engage and train volunteers from ethnic minority communities to build the capacity of minority groups to help and support each other and become self-sustaining.

Peter talked to us about the vital work they are doing to support people claiming asylum and with citizenship applications at the moment.

We then took Ella to visit  Raise the Roof homeless project who not only feed people experiencing homelessness, but also strive to break the cycle of homelessness by giving people the support they need, when they are ready, to move back into accommodation and wider society.

We heard from one of their volunteers who told us their life had been turned around because of the support they have received from Raise the Roof and learnt that the group have gone from feeding 45 people to 90 in the last few months.

We came away from our time in Hull with a funder who not only understands the difference their funds make in local communities, but has seen the impact first-hand. Ella was delighted to have met so many inspirational people with such pride and generosity.

The Dulverton Trust Fund is just one of  around 80 funds that Two Ridings manage and administer for a wide range of families, organisations, trusts and councils. From those funds we provide on average 500 grants a year distributing £2.5million to local organisations in North and East Yorkshire to support them to support local people.

If you want to contribute to that giving now, or leave a legacy for the future, take a look at our Giving and Philanthropy page and get in touch.