Last week Selby District Council awarded Two Ridings Community Foundation just over £2 million to fund community projects and help to support a sustainable voluntary sector in our district for years to come.
This sum constitutes the ‘Selby District Community Legacy Fund’ and followed an initial allocation of £100,000 of funding made earlier this month. This initial sum will open the Fund from Autumn this year, with the £2million invested as an endowment fund. The subsequent grants are then made from the interest gained from it on an annual basis. This means the interest from the investment will benefit local people year on year, forever.
To deliver grants to community groups and charitable organisations across the district for years to come, Selby District Council appointed Two Ridings Community Foundation to administer this fund. As the accredited Community Foundation for the region and a nationally and locally trusted expert charity, they give and invest across North and East Yorkshire for social good. Two Ridings are perfectly placed to both manage and fairly distribute this huge investment to local people.
Two Ridings hold and manage over 70 funds for regional investors, councils and philanthropists which they distribute through grants to grassroots community organisations who support people at a very local level.
Cllr David Buckle, Selby District Council’s Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development, explained:
“The Selby District Community Legacy Fund is something which we, as the Elected Members of Selby District Council wish to give to our communities to support the voluntary sector in our district over many years to come. Working with Two Ridings will ensure that these funds are used to support local projects for decades to come and this will allow us to continue to directly improve the lives of local people long after the council ceases to exist.
“The money will be used to strengthen community activity as well as tackle poverty and stigma, reduce inequality, prevent loneliness and isolation and improve wellbeing and peoples’ lives. In short, it will bring positive change to whole communities.”
One of the groups who have previously benefited from a Two Ridings grant in the Selby district is The Big Communitea. Their call service positively impacts many different people. The support they give ranges from simply having a chat over a virtual cup of tea, giving a listening ear, enabling someone to share their problems, to dealing with mental health first aid situations where people are in a serious mental health crisis.
This funding has allowed the Big Communitea to take on more call operators, leading to an increase in calls and highlighting the wider need for the service. With a further grant this month, they have now been able to secure a physical base for the charity on Abbey Walk in Selby. This will enable them to extend their service to offer a Drop-In service as well as phone support. This service adds real strength to the communities in and around Selby. It improves people’s wellbeing and quality of life. In some cases, it has saved lives.
Jan Garrill, Chief Executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation said:
“This is a huge investment in the people of the Selby district, with it we will reach out to fund grassroots organisations who are already making a huge difference in reducing poverty and inequalities, improving wellbeing, and bringing purpose to people young and old.
“This fund will create positive change, not just now but forever.”
The Selby District Community Legacy Fund will enable Two Ridings to provide more grants to more organisations like The Big Communitea across the Selby District for years to come. The initial grant making process will start in Autumn this year. For more information about this or about the Two Ridings Community Foundation, visit: www.tworidingscf.org.uk.
Councillor David Buckle and Jan Garrill are both available for interview or comment. For more information, please contact communications@selby.gov.uk