Cumbria Community Foundation has become the first charity to be named as one of Cumbria Tourism’s official ‘Strategic Partners’.

As one of the UK’s most prominent Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), Cumbria Tourism’s core network of Strategic Partners draw together collective expertise from across the county to champion effective destination marketing to support businesses, visitors and local communities. 

Cumbria Community Foundation is a leading, accredited community foundation and provides philanthropic services to individuals, families and organisations – managing more than 100 grant making funds and awarding an average of around £3 million a year.

This new Strategic Partnership between the two organisations reflects the importance of the visitor economy to local people, supporting jobs and prosperity for the county as a whole. 

It also means that 10% of the proceeds generated by Cumbria Tourism’s MyCumbria residents’ cards will now be donated directly to Cumbria Community Foundation, to support local good causes. 

Jacqui Currie, Head of Development, said: “Cumbria Community Foundation is delighted to have become a strategic partner of Cumbria Tourism. Our organisations share common values as we work to build a bright, sustainable future for Cumbria’s communities. With one in four people in the county depending on visitor spending for their livelihood, tourism is embedded in our communities and our economy. 

“Many tourism businesses already work with the Foundation by becoming members and fundholders, the proceeds of which the Foundation gives out in grants to community groups that help vulnerable people in our county. Through our Strategic Partnership with Cumbria Tourism, we will be encouraging new supporters in the tourism sector to help us to address disadvantage in our county.”

Jim Walker, Chairman of Cumbria Tourism, adds, “The visitor economy is integral to our local communities and Cumbria Community Foundation is an outstanding example of an organisation giving back to the place where we live and work. It’s fitting that they become the first charity to be named as an official Strategic Partner and we look forward to working hand-in-hand with them over the coming year.”

Cumbria Community Foundation joins a core network of Strategic Partners, who are all highly respected and regarded across the county. The list includes: 

• United Utilities (Cumbria Tourism patron)
• Burnetts
• The Cumberland 
• Forestry England
• Grasmere Gingerbread
• Highways England
• Holidaycottages.co.uk
• Lake District Estates
• Lake District National Park
• Lamont Pridmore
• NFU Mutual
• Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire
• Thomson Hayton Winkley
• University of Cumbria
• Windermere Lake Cruises

Full details on Cumbria Tourism’s  MyCumbria Card.

Called Positive Disruptors, the competition is open to young people living in Allerdale or Copeland and aged between 10 and 25 who want to “positively disrupt” their communities.

Based on a similar initiative run by the Hunter Foundation, the aim of the programme is to empower young people to ‘positively disrupt’ the status quo, to give them a platform to be heard and to break down the barriers for aspiring young entrepreneurs. It is looking to back young people who have ambition and the courage to take that ambition on.

Developed by Cumbria Community Foundation, Positive Disruptors is funded by Cumbrian property developer, Brian Scowcroft, with match funding from Sellafield Ltd as part of its Transforming West Cumbria programme, LLWR, Well Whitehaven, Morgan Sindall and Kaefer.

Annalee Holliday, Senior Grants & Programmes Officer at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “It is very encouraging to see more funding allocated to creating opportunities after what has been a very challenging time. Positive Disruptors will have an incredible impact on young people, empowering them to develop their ideas that will benefit their peers, their communities and young people of the future.”

Ten successful entrants will each be awarded £1,000 to help them realise their ambition. As well as receiving the grant, the Foundation has teamed up with the Centre for Leadership Performance to provide the young disruptors with six months of support, including a series of workshops, expert advice, mentoring and opportunities to shadow local entrepreneurs to help bring their idea to life.

Catherine Eve, Executive Director, at the Centre for Leadership Performance, said: “We are delighted to be working with Cumbria Community Foundation, the programme promotes self-belief, vision, efficacy, collaboration and resilience; a perfect development platform for young people to develop leadership skills, find their voice and promote ideas that will positively disrupt their community and lead to innovation and improvement.”

Any potential positive disruptors now have an eight-week period to develop their ideas and apply by 10th Jan 2022. An advisory panel will meet to review all entries and winners will be announced.

ENTER HERE: Positive Disruptors Application Form 2021/22

For information, click here.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor to help and encourage these young people to prosper, complete an application form, no later than 1st October 2021 or contact annalee@cumbriafoundation.org for more information.

 Charitable groups and community projects in West Cumbria area are being encouraged to apply for funding of up to £5,000 from the #CanDo Fund.

Cumbria Community Foundation manages over a hundred grant making funds and awards on average £2 million a year to community organisations.

#CanDo aims to support the ambition of developing a lifetime commitment to social action and increase the number of opportunities for young people (aged between 10 and 20, and up to 25 for disabled young people) in West Cumbria to volunteer, fundraise, or campaign on issues that are important to them, with a commitment to reducing the social and financial barriers that stop some young people from taking part in social action.

Funded by Sellafield Ltd, with match funding from Thomas Graham & Sons and local donors, #CanDo is part of Transforming West Cumbria, a multi-year social investment programme developed by Cumbria Community Foundation.

#CanDo will raise young people’s aspirations and build their confidence by:

• engaging young people in meaningful social and environmental action
• empowering young people from disadvantaged communities to volunteer, lead change and take action in their communities
• encouraging young people to have a voice, be heard and give back to their local community
• enabling young people to make a huge difference to improving their community and local environment

Annalee Holliday, Senior Grants & Programmes Officer at “Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “Young people have enormous potential to make a positive change – their involvement is crucial to the future of our communities. This funding aims to develop opportunities rather than fund the ongoing costs of existing youth work. We are looking to fund organisations that involve young people in volunteering, campaigning and fundraising activities.”

The closing date for the first round of funding is 10^th September 2021. For more information about, visit https://www.cumbriafoundation.org/transforming-west-cumbria/cando/

 David Beeby, High Sheriff of Cumbria, launches a new initiative to mark International Youth Day.

Better Tomorrows is a three-year programme encouraging people within Cumbria to become accredited in youth work and substantially increase the number of young people having access to support from youth workers to help them reach their full potential.

This unique initiative will provide accredited training to more than a hundred people as well as offer grants of up to £25,000 to community organisations setting up or providing new youth work opportunities for local people.

David said: “Many young people have had their lives turned upside down by the pandemic and are facing unprecedented challenges caused by interrupted education, uncertainty about the future and anxiety exacerbated by increases in poverty and family ill health.

“High-quality youth work has a crucial role to play helping many young people to achieve their full potential. Through participation in youth work, young people gain confidence and competence, develop self-assurance, and have the opportunity to establish high expectations and aspirations for themselves.

“Despite the critical role that youth work plays in a young person’s life, youth work is not a statutory responsibility for local authorities. As money has diminished, funding that previously supported youth workers through qualifications and training has also reduced. There are still areas in Cumbria without any youth provision. That’s why I decided to launch Better Tomorrows.”

Although spearheaded by David, Better Tomorrows works in partnership with Cumbria Youth Alliance and local funders Cumbria Community Foundation and Francis C Scott Charitable Trust who have also invested into the programme.

CEO of Cumbria Youth Alliance, Becky Wolstenholme, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be a partner organisation with the Better Tomorrows programme. Building solid platforms by supporting and offering training to vital youth organisations that will be delivering now, more than ever, essential services to enable young people to reach their full potential.”

Better Tomorrows aims to invest at least £900,000 over the next three years into quality youth work training and provision. David has personally committed a significant amount to the programme and has secured match funding from national funder, the Four Acre Trust, meaning any additional donations will be matched pound for pound.

John Bothamley CBE, Chairman of Four Acre Trust, said: “Four Acre Trust is pleased to support this great initiative to train and support more youth workers across Cumbria. The future of our country relies on our children; we have a duty to give them all the best start in life and this is why we are offering to match, pound for pound, donations from new donors.”

“The programme has been designed to be scalable,” said David. “The more donations we receive, the more people we’ll be able to support, not just through accredited training, but also quality youth work provision.”

Donations have also been received from local businesses including LLWR and individual supporters. David is delighted to have received so much encouraging support.

Cath Giel, Director of Communications & Stakeholder Relations at LLWR, said: “This targeted initiative to support young people across Cumbria is well-timed to meet a pressing need, given the impact of COVID-19 on our communities.

“Better Tomorrows’ will address the shortage in the provision of trained youth workers across the county, equipping a new generation to reach out and support our young people, building a sustainable model that will continue to deliver long after this programme has ended.”

International Youth Day is celebrated annually on 12^th August to bring youth issues to the international community’s attention and celebrate the potential of youth as partners in today’s global society.

David is looking to raise a further £200,000 to reach his target. “We’ve never needed youth work more and it’s never been more important to collaborate and align our activities to work with young people. It is so important that we support young people to be ambitious about their future to achieve better tomorrows,” he said.

For more information or to donate, visit: www.cumbriafoundation.org/better-tomorrows or email David on hscumbria21@btinternet.com

More than £100,000 has been awarded to a range of good causes in the Furness area, including combating loneliness, helping people recover from debt, and providing activities for young people.

Cumbria Community Foundation awarded just under £104,000 at its recent Furness Grants Committee to 12 community organisations, with two people receiving a share of £3,500 to increase sporting and artistic achievement.

The money came from funds set up by local people and businesses including the Barrow Community Trust Fund, the Cumbria Young People’s Fund and the Kirkby Moor Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund.

Helping to relieve loneliness in the community, Age UK Barrow and District received £10,000 from the Pappagallino Fund to relaunch its community-based social groups and activities, which were forced to stop during the pandemic.

The charity offers a range of services for the elderly including sessions for those who have very limited interaction with family and friends in rural areas.

Vickie Martin, Head of Age UK Barrow & District, said: “We are delighted to have received this funding. Lockdown has affected older people significantly and many people have struggled with their mental and physical health throughout the pandemic. By relaunching social groups and gentle exercise sessions, it will help people to improve their physical health and mobility and start to reconnect with friends in a social setting, helping to improve the impact that isolation and loneliness has had on so many people during the last 18 months.”

Age UK Barrow and District also received a further £20,000 to continue running its befriending service.

Youthability Youth Services & Walney Community Centre is a new initiative set up to provide support to young people who are socially isolated, particularly those with disabilities.

£5,000 from the Cumbria Young People’s Fund will provide a wide range of activities and support children and young people with special educational needs.  Specialist youth workers take each person’s situation and work closely with them and their families to accommodate their needs and aspirations.

The Youthability project was delivered by charity, Leonard Cheshire for 15 years, however, due to funding issues, they took the decision to cease operating. Rather than allow the service to disappear, this new partnership was formed to ensure that young people with disabilities in the area are supported.

Leslie McLeese, Senior Youth worker & Centre Manager, said: “We are so grateful for the support that Cumbria Community Foundation has given us on our new journey.

“The grant will enable us to carry on supporting young people with special educational needs on their social and emotional journey to adulthood. Community is at the heart of everything we do, and this grant will also go a long way in enabling us to provide an accessible community hub.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large and persistent economic impact on people, causing more people to fall into debt. Spring Mount Christian Fellowship received £27,000 from the Cumbria Fund and the Cumberland Building Society Community Fund to help people struggling to control their finances over the next three years. Its CAP Barrow project offers a life skills course and money courses and debt Help. CAP Debt Help helps people who need counselling on how to escape from problem debt and usually involves home visits, building up a relationship to see if there is anything else they can help with.

CAP is a Christian debt charity that amalgamates people’s debts into one lump sum to be paid off per month with additional assistance for dealing with debt collectors and more.

In 2019, CAP Barrow saw 26 new clients in addition to working with existing families. A total of 14 people were helped to go “debt-free.” The charity pays a subscription to CAP central to help finance the expert financial services and support provided by the charity’s centralised services to local debt centres.

Ellen Clements, Senior Grants & Donor Services Officer at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We are grateful to the generosity of our fundholders to enable us to support these worthy organisations in the Furness area that are working hard during these difficult times to meet local needs.”

For more information about Cumbria Community Foundation, how to support local charities through them or to apply for a grant, call a member of the team on 01900 825760.

A charitable fund has invested more funding into third sector organisations responding to an increase in people struggling to cope.

The NHS Psychological Support Fund was set up by the NHS in north Cumbria and Cumbria County Council and is held by Cumbria Community Foundation. A further £90,612 has been awarded to four charities that are tackling the impact of anxiety, domestic abuse, and addictive behaviour, which have become more prevalent during the pandemic.

This comes at the most appropriate time as lockdown restrictions ease and, for many people, anxiety levels rise.

West Cumbria Domestic Violence received £24,480 to help reduce waiting times for its counselling service for victims of domestic abuse, which provides psychological, emotional and wellbeing support in West Cumbria

Victoria Pike, Trainee Project Manager West, said: “COVID-19 has presented many challenges for us all and continues to impact family dynamics for a lot of people. During the past 12 months, there has been a 40% increase in monthly referrals going from 25 on average in 2019/2020 to 35 in 2020/2021 and our helpline has had an overall 30% increase in calls.

“We currently have a waiting list of 134 people that have asked for help due to domestic and sexual abuse, and these referrals are not slowing down. The grant will allow us to increase counselling hours to help reduce our waiting list and the distress experienced by our clients. This will give survivors of abuse the support they very much need, let them know they are not alone and help them deal with the trauma they have experienced, enabling them to move onto a safer, happier future for themselves and their children.”

iCan Health & Fitness, based in Carlisle, received £16,400 for its wellbeing and mental health support podcasts. Jenna Sutherland, WeCan Wellbeing Co-ordinator & Development Manager, said: “We are thrilled to hear that we are receiving a grant to deliver Series 2 of our podcasts!

“Series 1 has so far received over 1,500 downloads and included local experts in health and wellbeing as well as those who shared their very personal lived experience. The feedback we had was incredible and we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of listeners who have felt comfort and reassurance from hearing local people talk about mental health so openly and honestly.

“We are honoured to be able to put together another series and will record another 12 episodes over the next year which will be full of helpful real life and raw conversations with local people. Series 1 is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify by searching WeCan Cumbria.”

Cumbria Alcohol and Drugs Advisory Service (Cadas) received £24,987 to support members of the community whose mental health has been negatively affected by their own or someone else’s harmful substance use or other problematic addictive behaviour, such as gambling.

Together We received £24,754 for its Together We Talk project which provides free one-to-one and small group psychological interventions as well as family support services to people aged 11 and upwards in West Cumbria.

Peter Rooney, Chief Operating Officer for NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We know organisations close to our community can have a huge impact for people living in north Cumbria and we are delighted to support these groups. The challenges of the pandemic and lockdown have affected us all but have hit some people much harder than others. It is important we are able to support specialist help close to home like this.”

So far, 14 groups have already received funding from the NHS Psychological Support Fund. Annalee Holliday, Senior Grants, Programmes said: “The effects on people’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly general anxiety and isolation have increased during the pandemic and can have a debilitating effect on a person’s daily functioning and long-term mental health. We want to reduce the impact of this pandemic by providing grant funding to groups offering mental health support and emotional wellbeing services in North Cumbria.”

The fund can be accessed by third sector organisations in north Cumbria supporting people with anxiety and isolation and other mental health issues. Groups in the Carlisle and Eden area are particularly encouraged to apply.

For more information, click here or call 01900 825760.

A fund established to help communities respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has received a welcome boost.

The North East and North Cumbria Mental Health Integrated Care Systems (ICS) has provided additional funding to help enhance suicide and self-harm prevention work across north Cumbrian communities.

The NE&NC Suicide Prevention Network has allocated additional funding to support organisations and community groups that within communities to reach isolated and vulnerable people and groups within our communities.

Katherine McGleenan, Suicide Prevention Lead across North East and North Cumbria, said: “We are pleased to be in a position to be able to offer further funding for projects supporting vulnerable people across North Cumbria. We hope this will help organisations continue to provide vital support, information and training on suicide and self-harm prevention so that we can continue to raise awareness, reduce the stigma and ensure people know how to access help if they need to.”

The money has been donated to the Cumbria COVID-19 Response Fund, managed by Cumbria Community Foundation. The charity has so far awarded more than £3m in grants to community groups to help the county respond and recover from the pandemic.

Charitable organisations can apply for up to £35,000 to deliver:
• focused prevention – raising awareness, campaigns, resources, training
• targeted preventions – community action, training, campaigns
• crisis interventions and recovery phase interventions – focused community support.

Andy Beeforth, CEO at Cumbria Community Foundation said: “Any death by suicide is one too many and now more than ever we need to be able to provide fresh and creative ways to provide advice and support. Thanks to this additional donation, voluntary organisations will be able to increase their support to avoid many people getting to crisis point, where they feel there is no other option.”

For groups wanting to enquire about funding, they should click here or contact the grants team: grants@cumbriafoundation.org

Cumbria may be best known for its stunning lakes and mountains, but it is also home to world class businesses working across a number of sectors.

Cumbria Community Foundation is inviting people to find out more about these businesses at an online event ‘Cumbria Voices: Aspiration and Excellence: World class business in Cumbria’ on Thursday 15th July at 6pm.

The event is being hosted by the Foundation’s Cumbria Club as part of the Cumbria Voices campaign and is the first in a series of events being held in partnership with Armstrong Watson. Cumbria Voices will give an opportunity for different facets of Cumbria to be showcased to people both within and outside the county, and future events will focus on the art that our beautiful landscapes have inspired, the environment that we all enjoy, and the foods that our county is famous for producing.

On 15th July, we will hear from leading figures of businesses who have grown and made their home in Cumbria, including Martin Rayner from Lakeland Ltd, Matt Mellor from Createc, and Phil Wild from James Cropper Plc, alongside Sue Green from social enterprise The Oaklea Trust and Jo Lappin from Cumbria’s Local Enterprise Partnership.

Andy Beeforth, CEO of Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We founded the Cumbria Club with Lord Bragg’s support in 2020 to showcase all things Cumbria to everyone who has an interest in sustaining our Cumbrian communities. We are delighted to bring together for our first Cumbria Voices event some of the leading figures from Cumbria’s business world to explore the themes of aspiration and excellence, and we are grateful to Armstrong Watson for their partnership.”

Accountants, business and financial advisory firm, Armstrong Watson, has supported and advised businesses in Cumbria for more than 150 years. With the origins of the firm in Carlisle, it has expanded over the years to 17 regional offices across the north of England and Scotland, including six across the county.

Stephen McCullough, Partner and Head of Marketing and Business Development, said: “We are delighted to support the Cumbria Voices events which will help to highlight the wealth of homegrown activity in Cumbria, be that in business, the arts and culture, alongside supporting the environment and natural heritage the county is well known for. We’re well aware of many of the world-class businesses Cumbria has to offer and we look forward to interesting and lively presentations and debate from Cumbria Voices both inside and outside our beautiful county.”

To find out more about this event and to register to attend, click here or email  caroline@cumbriafoundation.org

The Cumbria Club is open to individuals and families who live both inside and outside the county. Membership presents an opportunity to engage with others who have an interest in the county, including the landscape, communities, culture, environment, economy, and history. To find out more about the Cumbria Club, click here.

A major report examining all aspects of life for people in Furness has been published last week.

‘Furness: Opportunities and Challenges 2021’ has been commissioned by the charity Cumbria Community Foundation as a guide to what needs to be done to improve lives, and how to help attract funding to the area.

More than 100 hours of research went into its production, which uncovered some startling statistics:

• Life expectancy for a boy born in parts of High Furness is 84 while for a boy from certain wards in Barrow it is only 72.
• 29% of people live in areas classed as among the 20% most deprived in England and 1 in 5 live alone.
• Almost 1 in 4 adults have no qualifications

Against those stark figures, the report found many positives. People in Furness are substantially happier with their area than the national average, and that Barrow is the second most affordable place to live in Britain.

Cumbria Community Foundation Chief Executive Andy Beeforth said: “We produced a similar report for West Cumbria, which resulted in a new transformative programme being developed, funding partnerships that address family wellbeing, financial literacy and young people and enterprise.

“The report has been created with the backing of all local councils, a number of business leaders, BAE and charitable funders, and all are committed to positive change for people of the area.”

Furness MP Simon Fell was one of around 100 people to attend an online launch event this week and praised its scope.

“The report shows poverty and prosperity rubbing together side by side,” he said, adding: “It is a tremendous piece of writing and will give me the tools I need to go into Government and speak to ministers to press for more support.”

The report looks at everything from health and unemployment to education and housing, and speaks to people in the public, private and third sectors, from local government to film making to drug treatment.

The impact of the pandemic is covered but is far from the main focus which takes in a wider look at Furness and what the future holds for the region.

The report highlights the often extreme contrasts in Furness, from the fells of South Lakeland to the expanse of Morecambe Bay, the highly-skilled jobs at Barrow’s main employer BAE Systems to the pockets of acute deprivation just streets away.

The next generation feature too, with the views of more than 250 schoolchildren sought in a survey which asked them what they thought about the place where they lived.

Asked to describe it in five words, the overwhelming majority chose positive terms, including ‘beautiful’, ‘peaceful’, ‘friendly’, and ‘safe’.

One girl said: “I want to stay here when I grow up because my family are here. I want to be by the sea with my family and friends. Being with the people I love makes me happy.”

In his foreword, Tony Keen, MD of SN Group, writes: “Now we have a document which gives us focus and direction to help make the changes the area needs.”

Furness: Opportunities and Challenges 2021 click here.