Nourishing our communities through local giving
It was wonderful to welcome some of our donors and supporters to an intimate evening at Scampston Hall recently. With beautiful harmonies coming from the wonderful Flash Company Arts community choir as guests arrived, the atmosphere was warm and inviting.
The aim of the event was to thank our donors and supporters for their continued support and give them a flavour of the impact of local giving. It was also an opportunity to launch our new Community Champions programme to encourage corporate sponsorship of the foundation.
Chris Legard, Trustee of Two Ridings, set the scene of how he was drawn to the foundation and talked about the amazing work community organisations do the length and breadth of the region.
CEO Celia using the theme of harvest, a time of gathering and of gratitude, thanked our investors and talked through how giving sustains, nourishes and strengthens our communities. She went on to tell everyone the ripple effect that funding has on the community, liking giving to the concentric circles that spread when a pebble lands in the water.
She talked of first the effect on the individual and told a story of an individual coming into Community Works, a community organisation in Thirsk needing a food parcel. And how through the team talking to him they discovered he was illiterate. This difficulty had seen him get behind on his rent payments and saw him unable to understand changes to his universal credit. The team paired him up with a key worker to help him with this, leading to him gaining confidence and self esteem as a payment plan was set up. He has since found employment and is happily able to support himself and his daughter; the ripple effect of generosity.
Celia went on to talk about the impact local community organisations have and the complexities of they themselves needing support with their own bills and overheads to continue the work they do with local people. She talked about all our grants enable groups to contribute in part to their overhead costs to keep the door open and provide a safe space for everyone.
She ended by talking about our communities and what a crucial element they are to our social fabric. She stressed the activities, interactions and interventions undertaken by grassroots groups bind people together as communities. And pointed out that the summer witnessed what happens when our social fabric gets thin in the form of riots.
You could have heard a pin drop when Rebecca Denniff of Flash Company Arts took to the floor to talk about how crucial food had become to every offer they make at the busy Whitby Community Arts Centre. The room was silent as she explained that as well as the creative and musical classes that they have always offered, they now have a community fridge and pay-as-you-feel cafe and they ensure people can get involved in helping themselves and helping others. She backed up Celia’s ripple theory and talked about her gratitude for having a local funder who knows them and trusts them to make the decisions the community needs.
Venetia Wrigley, a fund holder and trustee at Two Ridings told us two stories of how community groups she had visited were transforming lives and highlighted the new corporate sponsorship offer Two Ridings launched.
The room felt connected, generous and joyful. Ideas were shared, stories told and a deep understanding of the impact of local giving gained.
Find out more about becoming a Two Ridings’ Community Champion and download the brochure below.