Local funding supporting young people and their families
Nimbuscare, one of the largest ‘at scale’ providers of primary care in the North of England, set up the Nimbuscare Community Fund with Two Ridings in order to invest back into the local communities that it serves. The fund supported 33 community groups in 2022 distributing £148,849 on projects that have a positive impact on people living in York, Stamford Bridge and Pocklington, where its 11 GP practices are located.
To experience first-hand the impact the Nimbuscare Community Fund has made on two community organisations in York, Sarah, our Programmes Officer, recently took the Nimbuscare CEO, Maddy Ruff, and Ellie Holmes, Head of Corporate Affairs, on a visit to meet them.
Mentoring young people through The Island
Nimbuscare CEO Maddy meeting Nigel, CEO of The Island
They first met Nigel, the CEO of The Island, a local York charity providing mentoring programmes for children and young people in the city to raise their self-esteem and resilience after experiencing challenges with their mental, emotional and social wellbeing.
They met at The Island’s new site in Huntington, a soon-to-be 8-acre purpose-built children’s activity centre which will enable the charity to create a safe, inspiring environment for young people, offering more services and learning facilities in collaboration with other local community groups.
The Island received £5,000 from Nimbuscare Community Fund to provide 6 young people with a year’s worth of one to one mentoring in the Acomb area of the city. The staff at The Island who work directly with the young people and mentors spoke to the funders about how mentoring impacts young people, the kind of activities they do, the skills they learn, the importance of autonomy and how mentoring gives them confidence.
Maddy and Ellie both said that there were members of Nimbuscare team who would be interested in mentoring, and they offered The Island the use of their community space at Acomb Garth.
Maddy, CEO at Nimbuscare said:
“At Nimbuscare we recognise the importance of supporting our communities and giving back. It is really rewarding to see the real difference a small grant can make.
We chose to work with Two Ridings because of their expertise in grant making and to ensure the process is transparent. We look forward to confirming funding for 2023/24 and sharing what the priorities for the fund will be.”
This visit was about meeting the staff at The Island and hearing about the work they do.
Staff members at The Island
Giving disadvantaged children greater opportunities in life with Big Futures Foundation
The second visit to meet with Michelle Foulks, CEO of Big Futures Foundation, was very much about seeing the work they do in action.
The Nimbuscare team met with Michelle at Tang Hall Primary School a local school whose pupils Big Futures Foundation work alongside. They walked down to Glenn Gardens Park to experience an activity session where children were running around happily, enjoying a range of activities including a picnic, colouring, bubble making and a chocolate bunny hunt.
The children were there with their family members; this was an event that not only supports children who are struggling emotionally and at school, but the families as well, helping them connect and enjoy activities together.
Michelle explained how the funding from Nimbuscare is enabling them to continue their work with disadvantaged children in local schools to improve their emotional wellbeing and develop their academic resilience and life skills, which includes being involved in their whole family unit.
Big Futures Foundation have been using the community space up at Nimbuscare’s Acomb Garth Care Centre to run sessions, to support more young people in York in the future.
Sarah from Two Ridings said:
“The second round of Nimbuscare Community Fund was all about connecting and community and this was it happening not just in name, but in practice. The visits were amazing, seeing real collaboration unfolding.
There was moment where I realised why I love my job; it’s all about the difference that can be made when people genuinely connect and support their communities.”
If you want to find out more about how you can support local people in North and East Yorkshire, check out our Giving & Philanthropy page for a whole range of options