Christmas joy as T&A hands out £28,000 to Bradford charities

Trustees at The Gannett Foundation, which is operated by the US company that owns the T&A, have selected projects which support the homeless, disadvantaged young people, those suffering from mental health issues, cancer patients and their families, and people with learning disabilities.

The biggest cheque is for Centrepoint, which has been working in Bradford to tackle youth homelessness since 2013, and has a main centre in West Bowling.

The £8,093 will be spent on the resources and equipment needed to turn a room into a boutique and help young people start up-cycling donations from the community.

Faye Wilson, regional fundraising manager, said: “We are so grateful to the Telegraph & Argus and the Gannett Foundation for supporting our up-cycling project. Not only will it give our young people the opportunity to learn new skills, it will also make clothes and furniture that might have previously been out of reach, affordable.

“We’re so excited to get started in the New Year and look forward to involving the local community, as we will be asking for their help and knowledge to support the project through donations and even by becoming volunteers.

“Thank you again – it really is a wonderful Christmas present to us all at Centrepoint in Bradford.”

The editor of the Telegraph & Argus Perry Austin-Clarke said: “Every year we’re delighted to support local groups through the Gannett Foundation, but this year is particularly special as we are supporting more local groups than ever before. We had more than 60 applications and were genuinely impressed by the work they do.

COMMENT: GRANTS WILL HELP TOWARDS VALUABLE WORK

“The five organisations we have selected are from across the district and support cancer patients, disadvantaged youngsters, the homeless, people with learning disabilities and those suffering with mental health problems.

“We really hope these grants will make a difference and support the vital, and often unrecognised, work these groups do and help them have a very merry Christmas.

“I look forward to hearing about how their projects develop over the coming months.”

The Small World Cultural Arts Collective has been granted £5,950 to create a fully-equipped music department at its Keighley base for disadvantaged young people.

Joint co-ordinator and support worker Oscar Manthorp said he was ridiculously happy when he found out about the grant.

“One of the things we’ve had problems with is equipment not quite working like we’d want it to,” he added.

Project director Claire Silvester said it was fantastic.

“Having this funding from yourselves means we can really provide young people with a wide range of equipment and instruments and really wide ranging experiecne which is something they’ve not got access to in schools properly because wait lists are so long.”

She said the 25 young people they worked with would be “really excited” when they found out.

The Cellar Trust in Shipley has been awarded £5,586 to help create a horticultural and woodwork shop supporting people with mental health problems across Bradford.

Its chief executive Kim Shutler-Jones said: “It isn’t an exaggeration to say that our skills shops change lives. Individuals come to us, often with little or no confidence and in many cases find it difficult to imagine a brighter future. We provide a supportive and nurturing environment which enables our clients to rebuild their confidence and skills, in a real working environment. The support from The Gannett Foundation will provide direct support for two of our skills shops, horticulture and woodwork. In the current economic climate, where funding is a real challenge, every penny counts and this will make a big difference to the work that we do.”

Cancer Support Bradford and Airedale has received £5,545 to help it set up its new advice centre in Skipton which is already proving successful.

David Baker, senior fundraiser at Cancer Support Bradford and Airedale, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to be funded by the Gannett Foundation which will help us to people local people in Skipton facing cancer.”

The new centre opened its doors in October.

“It’s been opened in response to local demand. We initially opened two days a week, but from January we are expecting to open four days because the demand has been unprecedented,” he said.

The final recipient is The HF Trust, a charity providing support services for people with learning disabilities. In Bradford the trust is involved in Springfield Community Gardens and the £2,750 awarded will be spent on walkways for a nature walk path and fruit trees in the urban garden on the edge of the Holme Wood estate. Margaret Rundall, development manager at HF Trust, said: “We are thrilled to receive this donation especially at this time of year when we can now get on with work to the paths and plant the fruit trees over the winter. This will also benefit the local community when people visit Springfield and enjoy all the activities that are carried out there.”

The Gannett Foundation considers applications from registered charities which need cash for projects tackling issues across the district. The projects could include education and neighbourhood improvements, economic development, youth development, assistance to disadvantaged or disabled people, environmental conservation and cultural enrichment.

Last year, Gannett awarded more than £300,000 across the newspaper group’s UK circulation area.

Typically, grants are given for substantial projects which require and merit awards of between £5,000 and £10,000 and, although preference may be given to ideas which create a durable legacy for their community, single events or projects of limited duration will also be considered.

CENTREPOINT, WEST BOWLING: £8,093

CENTREPOINT is the UK’s leading charity tackling the issue of youth homelessness and in October 2013 became responsible for looking after homeless young people in Bradford.

The charity now works with more than 300 young people in the district, providing them with safe accommodation, access to learning and health support workers, and ultimately working with them to develop the skills and confidence needed to live independently.

They receive between eight and ten new referrals every week, and they aim to develop the skills of every young person they work with.

The organisation’s grant application to the Gannett Foundation was to secure funding to set up an up-cycling project at its main centre in West Bowling.

A room will be turned into a boutique and their young people will start up-cycling items donated by the local community.

This will teach them new skills as well as giving focus and structure to their day.

The up-cycled items, such as clothes and furniture, will be available to buy in the boutique at an affordable price for the young people.

The shop will also be open to the local community.

SMALL WORLD, KEIGHLEY: £5,950

THE Small World Cultural Arts Collective was set up in Keighley by local volunteers in 1999 to provide and promote creative activity, focusing on disadvantaged areas and young people at risk.

They use creative arts to improve the lives, opportunities and choices for young people who can then contribute to the wider community in a positive way.

The organisation runs sessions ranging from an informal drop-in arts club, to long-term self-development courses for young people at risk of exploitation, bullying and falling behind within the education system.

Earlier this year Small World received funding from Youth Music for two years to provide music activities for young people in Keighley, and will be holding regular sessions at its Keighley base and also at community-based sessions. The group will also be taking part in performances during the project and performing at local community events. The Gannett Foundation grant will go towards extra instruments, an electronic drum kit, audio software, and live audio gear. This will give Small World the facilities to run individual practice areas, group rehearsals, live performances and recording sessions.

CANCER SUPPORT BRADFORD AND AIREDALE, SKIPTON: £5,545

CANCER support provides practical and emotional support for people who are affected with a diagnosis of cancer.

They can offer support with welfare benefits, transport services to travel to and from appointments, and social support to make sure that life can still be lived as normally as possible.

The service also provides complimentary therapies to help people with cancer relax and psychological support from people who understand.

Without this help, people can often experience trauma and distress. Cancer Support provided help and support to more than 3,500 people last year. Staff and almost 50 volunteers provide a holistic approach to support for cancer patients and families, helping to meet the practical, social and psychological consequences of having a cancer diagnosis.

The charity has recently opened a new centre in Skipton to provide support locally and is expanding its services to meet local demand. The Gannett Foundation grant will go towards the initial set-up costs of the centre.

This includes buying items such as furniture, a therapy bed, kitchen equipment and blinds for the windows.

THE CELLAR TRUST, FARFIELD ROAD, SHIPLEY: £5,586

THE Cellar Trust provides recovery-based services for people with medium to severe mental health problems from across Bradford.

Based in Shipley, it offers a unique service that incorporates giving people an opportunity to spend time in one of their micro businesses at the same time as benefitting from one-on-one counselling and support to help them decide a future and achieve their goals. The micro businesses are known as skills shops and they provide training as well as meaningful therapeutic occupation in catering, conferencing, horticulture, retail and woodwork.

As well as the skills shops, one-to-one support is provided to every client, including computerised cognitive behavioural therapy, career guidance, counselling and action planning. Several groups are also fun including a return to learning course, stepping stones – a personal development and jobsearch course, jobclub and work aid – and in work support programme.

The Gannett Foundation grant will be used to purchase a container which can be adapted to house an on-site shop to sell horticulture and woodwork produce. This will provide a regular place to continue to sell the produce which has been grown on the trust’s allotments and made through the woodwork shop.

HF TRUST, HOLME WOOD, BRADFORD: £2,750

THE HF Trust in Bierley supports more than 700 people with a wide range of learning disabilities in more than 30 projects across Bradford.

These include learning music, creative arts, cookery and healthy living, sailing, archery, and the award-winning Jewels cheerleading troupe. Their overall aim is to help people with learning disabilities get more out of life.

At Springfield Community Gardens in Holme Wood there is an inner-city seven-acre green space where the HF Trust co-ordinates a range of activities including horticulture, conservation and fruit and vegetable husbandry. More than 50 people with learning disabilities attend each week for training, work experience in the gardens, and in a shop selling fruit and vegetables. The gardens include a nature walk, which is half a mile long around its perimeter.

The Gannett Foundation Grant will go towards putting wooden walkways around the path and planting new fruit trees to encourage birds and insects.

The improved nature walk will open up new activities to local people and will encourage more people to visit and improve their fitness by following the circular path and participating in more activities.

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