Deaf-led charity Rare Rockets is the most recent beneficiary of the Open North Foundation (ONF), having received the largest grant awarded to date by the not-for-profit organisation..
The Newton Aycliffe-based organisation has received £3,000 from ONF for its "In-vision" work which involves using video messages, subtitles and voiceover as alternative to text-based content. It has seen significant interest in its services and has recently increased its headcount from five in April to 20 employees.
Rare Rockets has pointed to the many issues faced by the deaf community during the pandemic, including isolation from society, the loss of support networks, and mask wearing making lip reading difficult. Craig Jones, CEO, Rare Rockets, said: "In the last two months we have achieved charitable status which is phenomenal and will allow us to invest our time and profits back to the community we are so passionate about.
"The pandemic devastated the deaf community and the isolation it caused is still felt by many. As a result, we have expanded our community service and with referrals coming in thick and fast, we are growing to meet with demand. I firmly believe in equality for deaf people right across the board, whether this be from a grassroots deaf perspective or from professionals."
Squeezy cheese brand Primula Cheese has given £341,000 through its owner Kavli Trust to help support North East community groups feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
The beneficiaries receiving the donations include Cedarwood Trust, which received £171,000, and Mortal Fools which received £170,000. North Shields-based Cedarwood Trust focusses on tackling food poverty through its community membership store Nourish, among other initiatives. Theatre group Mortal Fools, based in Northumberland, focuses on developing young people's creativity, wellbeing and self-belief using drama. Primula’s donation will be used to further develop Mortal Fools new ‘Melva’ and ‘Future Ready’ drama-focused programmes.
The Kavli Trust uses all profits from the sale of Primula products to fund charities and good causes in the UK and overseas. Gareth Watson, brand communications manager at Primula Cheese said: "Sharing is at the heart of everything we do here at Primula and has been for the last sixty years. We focus on donating our profits to causes who are truly helping to make a difference. We’re thrilled that two deserving local causes will benefit from this donation of £341,000.
"The Cedarwood Trust and Mortal Fools are two incredible charities who have already supported thousands of families across our region, during particularly difficult times. It’s humbling to know that this donation will positively impact communities across the North East."
Kiz Crosbie Mortal Fools CEO and artistic director, said: "We’ve seen the mental health challenges experienced by young people exponentially increase across the last few years and therefore, it has never been more important for us to find new ways to engage young people and meaningfully support their wellbeing. The work funded by Kavli Trust will do just that via our Melva and Future Ready projects, enabling a needs responsive early intervention, providing safe spaces for young people to be themselves and scaffold towards good mental health. This investment enables the next chapter of this work and is an important direct investment into young people and their wellbeing at a crucial time."
Dozens of volunteers with a Newcastle community charity are receiving extra support thanks to a £3,000 grant from the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation.
Caring Hands provides a wide range of community-based services around the east end of the city, including a busy community laundrette. It will use the grant to contribute to costs of its volunteer coordinator, who organises recruitment, induction and well-being of a 60-strong team.
The Shieldfield-based charity operates an open door policy and welcomes anyone who needs help, advice or just a cup of tea and a chat at its Wretham Place headquarters. Its community laundrette is open four days a week for the general public, and offers a collection and delivery service in the city's East End for elderly people and those with health issues.
A free counselling service is available via telephone and face-to-face, as well as a befriending service to tackle social isolation. Caring Hands also offers help with odd jobs and gardening, along with small equipment loan services for health professionals to access what patients need for independent living.
Dawn Henderson, manager at Caring Hands, said: “Our community laundrette is about much more than just getting your wash done, and the collections and deliveries that our volunteers make give them a chance to talk to service users and make sure that they’re safe and well. A great deal of effort goes into organising our volunteers’ work schedule, but the difference they make to the lives of so many local people makes it all worthwhile.
“Many of our volunteers use the references we give them for their work with us to go on to find permanent jobs, which increases what we’re able to give back to the local community, and we’re always keen to hear from new people who’d like to get involved with what we do. Raising the money we need to pay for our services is always a worry, and especially so at the moment, so we’re really grateful to the Society for their generous donation to our work which means we can direct more resources towards other important activities.”
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