Grantee portal 
Members of the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland’s Giving Network celebrated a £100,000 giving milestone at their Giving Event last week.
The event at One Strawberry Lane saw four local charities; Friends Action North East, Northumberland Domestic Abuse Service, Oswin Project and Recyke y’bike, share a pot of over £20,000 given by network members. Members generosity took the total given in grants since it began 6 years ago to over £100,000.
Lisa Cappleman, Head of Giving and Philanthropy at the Community Foundation oversees the network:
“The Giving Network Event is always one of the best days of the year. The network members are so happy to have the chance to come together, learn about issues facing our communities, hear from inspiring local charities tackling them and then pool their giving to support them. It’s a great night. One member came to me at the end and said she was already looking forward to the event next year!””
On hitting the milestone Lisa reflected:
“£100,000 is a fantastic milestone but it’s made up of lots of smaller amounts from members pooling their giving. It shows that you don’t need to give millions to make a difference. One of our aims at the Community Foundation is to show that anyone can be a philanthropist and The Giving Network is part of that. We want it to continue to grow and reach new people who are passionate about supporting their local communities, and inquisitive about the work carried out by charities day in day out.”
The Giving Network at the Community Foundation is simple. Members commit to giving at least £30 a month which is matched £1 for £1 by the Community Foundation and held in the Giving Network Fund until it’s time for the Giving Event.
Members are then presented with a long-list of nine trusted organisations tackling issues highlighted in the foundation’s Vital Signs research. They select the four they’d most like to hear more from and then they and the members come together at the Giving Event. The organisations present for 5 minutes and members chat to them and each other before choosing how to allocate their share of the funding pot amongst the four charities. Over the last six years the following organisations have been supported:
2019 – Apna Ghar (South Shields); Cedarwood Trust (North Tyneside); Gateshead Older People’s Assembly (Gateshead borough); Washington MIND (Washington & Sunderland)
2020 – Gateway into the Community (West Northumberland); Fightback (Sunderland); Family Gateway (North and South Tyneside); Young Women’s Outreach Project (Gateshead)
2021 – Baby Equipment Loan Service & Toy Library (North Tyneside); Better Days (Newcastle); Blyth Star Enterprises (South-East Northumberland); Rainbow Home (North East)
2022 -Box Youth Project (Sunderland); Curious Monkey (regionwide); Hextol Foundation (West Northumberland & Newcastle); West End Women & Girls Centre (West Newcastle)
2023 – Action Station South Tyneside; Barnabus Safe & Sound (Northumberland); BRIC (Northumberland); Pennywell Neighbourhood Project (Sunderland)
2024 – Friends Action North East, Northumberland Domestic Abuse Service, Oswin Project and Recyke y’bike
If you want to learn more about The Giving Network you can read about it here or contact Lisa Cappleman.
