A selection of charities in the North East have won mentoring from senior business leaders as part of the Weston Charity Awards.
Winners of the award have won access to a team of senior business leaders through Pilotlight, which brings together business talent with small charities, as well as a grant of £5000.
The winners include Bliss Mediation Process, which runs a young person’s homeless project; Caring Hands, which addresses needs of local older people and; Edward Lloyd Trust, which focuses on the transition of people with learning difficulties from institutions to the community.
Other winners are Horden Youth & Community Centre; Northumberland Clubs for Young People; and Shiney Advice and Resource Project, which provides a volunteer-run shop and café, as well as providing advice and support to the community.
The Garfield Weston Foundation’s director, Philippa Charles (pictured), said: “We are delighted with the winners - the calibre of entrants was extremely high and the process has helped us begin new relationships with great charities as well as to strengthen existing ones.
“As part of the work the Garfield Weston Foundation is doing across the North East region we hope these awards will enable the six winners to be fit and flexible for the future and we congratulate them on their success.”
A recent survey by the Garfield Weston Foundation showed that almost 60 per cent of charities saw an increase in demand for their services, yet two-fifths of charities saw their incomes fall in the last year.
The research, commissioned by Garfield Weston on 200 North East charities, also revealed that organisations in the middle income range, between £50,000 and £200,000 are the most vulnerable. These charities are most likely to expect decreasing income.
Pilotlight’s chief executive, Gillian Murray, says: “Nearly every charity we have spoken to has been hit by funding cuts and changes in the way their services are being contracted. By bringing together charity chief executives with dynamic business leaders we know these charities will benefit and become more sustainable as a result.”
The Garfield Weston Foundation, a grant-making trust, hopes to develop the awards further to eventually cover the rest of the country.
Another charity which aims to tackle inequality and disadvantage in the North East is the Northern Rock Foundation, which announced earlier this year that its closure is ‘inevitable’. The Foundation is the largest independent grant maker in the North East.
