Yorkshire Bank recognises community spirit

31st July 2013

Twelve community groups across England were yesterday (Tuesday 30th July 2013) selected to share a funding boost of £75,000 to make a real difference in their local areas.

Yorkshire Bank’s Spirit of the Community Awards announced the substantial donations to voluntary groups at an awards ceremony in Leeds, to recognise the charities and not-for-profit organisations which are going the extra mile.

The awards were open to a range of organisations across the third sector which could demonstrate their support for the local community. Groups were invited to enter the awards scheme under one of three categories; education, employability and environment.

One group in each category secured a funding boost of £10,000, with the other three organisations each receiving £5,000. David Thorburn, Chief Executive of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, said: “Yorkshire Bank’s Spirit of the Community Awards aim to recognise and support the vital contribution that voluntary and charitable organisations make to their local communities. It has been inspiring to see the great work which is being done at grass roots level across the country.

“All twelve organisations are extremely deserving and have been recognised for their community spirit with these awards from Yorkshire Bank.”

The Yorkshire Bank Spirit of the Community Award Winners are:

Education category

Leeds City Council Breeze Team (LCC), which aims to provide a wide range of quality, out of school provision to young people up to 19 years of age across Leeds, has been awarded £10,000 to deliver the ‘Yorkshire Bank Every Penny Counts’ project. The project will run an informal education programme on all aspects of financial capability targeted at families with children and young people.

Together Women Project (TWP) – an independent charity which provides holistic support to female offenders and those at risk of offending - has been awarded £5,000 to offer one to one support to some 50 women to advise them on how to manage their finances on a daily basis and reduce their debt in a sustainable way.

Disability Resource Centre – an organisation which aims to support disabled people to reach their potential and to participate fully in mainstream society – has been awarded £5,000 to take forward the Money Wise project. The funding will help provide Money Wise courses for up to 60 disabled people living in Birmingham and Solihul.

The Haven Wolverhampton – which provides emergency accommodation to women and children suffering domestic violence and homelessness – has been awarded £5,000 to enable the charity to continue its Financial Inclusion service to support victims in gaining financial understanding and access to financial resources and to break the cycle of abuse.

Employability category

Queen Alexandra College (QAC) – a national specialist college for people who are blind, vision impaired or who have other disabilities such as Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and physical and learning difficulties - has been awarded £10,000 to accommodate 80-90 students per annum for the QAC Print Enterprise course. The project will bring the world of enterprise and commerce into the curriculum and develop another QAC social enterprise.

York Carers Centre – which offers a wide range of services to support carers – has been awarded £5,000 to create a two day residential course to help with employability skills such as communication, problem solving, flexibility, planning and team working. The course will also include life coaching sessions to raise aspirations and build confidence.

Doncaster Ethnic Minority Regeneration Partnership – which aims to develop the capacity and skills of members of the socially and economically deprived Ethnic Minority communities in Doncaster and South Yorkshire – has been awarded £5,000 for a project which will support up to 50 unemployed people to re-engage with the world of work. The project will provide bespoke employability skills and training programmes to help participants to increase their employability and job opportunities.

St Vincent Support Centre – which supports people living in poverty, helping them to come out of debt and back to work – has been awarded £5,000 to continue its StepUp project, which aims to get long-term unemployed adults into work. The pilot initiative involved 31 participants and after six months has helped 10 of the participants to access paid employment and the remaining 21 have gone on to access further education, training schemes or volunteer work.

Environment category

Heeley City Farm – an inner-city farm providing a range of integrated services and activities for the Sheffield community has been awarded £10,000. The farm identifies and addresses issues of poverty, inequality, prejudice and lack of opportunity using the background of the mini-farm, community gardens and related resources. The project aims to embrace the positive benefits of heritage, wildlife and conservation through engaging unemployed adults and those with learning difficulties, children and disadvantaged young people.

Keyhouse – a Yorkshire based charity which supports homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless with emergency accommodation and additional services - has been awarded £5,000 for its project to upskill service users on the ‘food cycle’ by encouraging use of its allotment plots for community growing and consumption of the produce.

Trees for Cities – a charity which encourages and inspires people to plant and love trees in cities – has been awarded £5,000 to create a new community orchard and elm avenue to develop the South Leeds Green Infrastructure Corridor (a regeneration priority area) using local volunteers and community groups. The new orchard will be used by local residents and as an educational resource for local schools.

Lineham Farm Children’s Centre – a 17th century farmhouse set in 120 acres of farm woodland which provides accommodation for 24 primary school aged children from disadvantaged areas in Leeds for a full week delivered 38 weeks per year – has been awarded £5,000 for a project to create a sensory garden to promote learning and understanding of the natural environment. The garden will be designed to stimulate all 5 senses and will be fully inclusive and accessible to all.

Yorkshire Bank’s sister organisation, Clydesdale Bank, is celebrating its 175th Anniversary this year and will announce next month the successful recipients of £175,000 as part of the Spirit of the Community Awards initiative. This will bring the total funds awarded to community groups up and down the country to a quarter of a million pounds.

For further information about Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundation’s Spirit of the Community Awards, please visit www.ybonline.co.uk/foundation or call on 0113 281 7880.