THREE hundred pairs of slippers, one for each life sadly lost to the winter cold.

This image, created to launch Cumbria Community Foundation’s annual Winter Warmth Appeal, has graphically brought home the harsh reality of a cold winter and fuel poverty in the county.

Sitting alongside Surprise View and overlooking Derwentwater, near Keswick, the juxtaposition of the beautiful backdrop and the significance of the foreground, once again illustrates that Cumbria is a county of contrasts.

The charity’s chief executive, Andy Beeforth, said: “Every year we appeal to the public to give money to help keep our older neighbours warm and safe in the winter months. We know that, on average, in a bad winter an extra 300 people will lose their lives to the effects of the plummeting temperatures. In our worst winters, this figure has risen to more than 500. We know for every one degree drop in temperature, the mortality rate increases, even in relatively mild every winters.

“It’s easy to become complacent about the numbers and not think about what they mean. Our photo illustrates that each one of those older people matters, they are someone’s mum or dad, gran or grandad, brother or sister, husband or wife. Bringing the slippers together for this photo made me stop in my tracks, it made me realise just how many people we lose unnecessarily.

“More than 120,000 Cumbrians receive the Winter Fuel Payment and to many it’s a lifeline but for those that don’t need it we can pass the money on to someone who is choosing between heating and eating this winter. Maybe we can help keep some of those slippers in front of a warm fire, where they should be.”

Launched in 2010, the Winter Warmth Appeal has raised £630,000 to help thousands of older people who are in danger of becoming ill or even dying because of the cold. It literally saves lives.

We spoke to some of the people we helped to keep warm last winter:

• A couple in the South Lakeland area who were struggling to keep their gas and electric meters topped up and out of the ‘emergency’ zone. The 60 year old husband is in a wheelchair after spinal surgery and his 55 year old wife suffers from poor health. He said: “We were able to split the Winter Warmth grant between our electricity and gas meters and that meant we could keep the heating on during the day without worrying about it. We’re very careful with the heating and our house isn’t energy efficient – we lose a lot of heat through the roof because there’s no insulation between the house and the old outhouse and although the windows are double glazed, the units are not well sealed so there are draughts between the window and the wall. My back problems mean I spend I lot of time lying down and I get cold very quickly. I’d like to be more mobile so I could walk about and keep warm in the winter, but now we are stuck in the house more than we’d like to be.”

• A couple in the Barrow area who first heard about the Winter Warmth grants when their granddaughter took part in The Big Sleep, which helps to raise money for the appeal. The 81 year old woman lives with her 82 year old husband, she said: “The Winter Warmth grant meant we could replace a broken storage heater last year. It cost £1700 just for the one heater, but it is much more efficient than the old one and doesn’t cost as much to run. Our electricity bills are so high around Christmas time, getting this grant means it isn’t such a worry.”

• In West Cumbria, a 74 year old man described the grant as meaning he didn’t have to wear his overcoat in the house to keep warm, he said: “I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and asbestosis and if the temperature drops I can’t breathe properly and I can’t talk. If we can keep the heating on, I can breathe and talk normally. Last winter our boiler was condemned and we had no heating from the end of November to the beginning of February. We got a loan of an electric fan heater and bought some electric blankets to try to keep warm. The fan heater kept the sitting room warm but the rest of the house was freezing. We have an electric shower, so we could use that, but we had to boil the kettle to wash up. The switch which makes the spark is broken on the gas fire and I’ve been told I shouldn’t use anything else to light the fire, so we have to do without that. Being pensioners, we can’t just put the heating on when we want. This grant means we can have it on more often though and we’re very grateful for that.”

Cumbria Community Foundation collects generous donations and shares them with vulnerable older people who struggle to heat their homes, so they can stay warm and healthy during winter. There are different ways to donate to help older people in Cumbria.

How to donate:

Online: Please visit our BT MyDonate page to make a contribution.

Online donations made between midday 28th November until midday on 5th December will be doubled as part of the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2017

Send a cheque: Please make cheques payable to Cumbria Community Foundation and write ‘Winter Warmth Fund’ on the back. Send cheques to our office; Cumbria Community Foundation, Dovenby Hall, Dovenby, Cockermouth, CA13 0PN.

Phone: Donate via credit/debit card over the phone by calling 01900 825760. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm.

If you are a tax payer, please also send a Gift Aid Declaration.

Cumbria Community Foundation recently welcomed two new members to its board of trustees.

Nicholas Coulson and Jim Johnson became newly elected trustees in October and joined the board made up of 17 other professionals, including Chairman David Beeby, who also Chairs Cumbria CBI, Vice Chair and Company Secretary Tim Cartmell, and Main Grants Committee Chair, Jane Humphries.

Cumbria Community Foundation connect people who care with causes that matter, having distributed more than £37 million in grants on behalf of its fundholders since 1999.

Nicolas Coulson is retired having spent nearly thirty years working in international financial markets. After retiring from the City, Nicholas spent six years living and working in Hong Kong, where he ran his own business. He and his wife 

Jim Johnson & Nicholas Coulson now life in Cumbria full time.

Nicholas said: “I have been aware of the work done by CCF in both highlighting and alleviating the deprivation behind the picture-postcard landscapes in Cumbria for many years. I was particularly impressed by the Foundation’s rapid, efficient and hands-on response to Storm Desmond and therefore when the opportunity came up to become a Trustee and do more first-hand to help the Foundation’s excellent work, I jumped at it.”

Jim Johnson is a life-long resident of Cumbria. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant he followed a challenging senior managerial career in professional, industrial and educational environments, and leading to specialisation in business recovery. He currently volunteers as a Trustee of Carlisle Diocesan Board of Finance, Chair of Parish Council and Churchwarden.

Jim said: “My wife and I established a Fund with the Foundation a couple of years ago, because we wanted to ensure that any charitable giving we made would be effective, efficiently administered and support mainly local needs. CCF fulfils all those objectives, as I have seen first-hand since joining the grants panel and through visiting community projects to witness the benefits of CCF’s funded support.

“When I was asked this year to join the Board of Trustees, I was delighted to accept, and consider it to be an honour to have the chance to add value to the governance of such an excellent organisation”.

Andy Beeforth, Chief Executive of Cumbria Community Foundation said: “We are delighted to formally welcome Nicholas and Jim to the board. We are always looking for people whose skills and expertise will compliment those of our existing Trustees, as we continue to tackle disadvantage across the county.”

Trustees’ Week, 13 to 17 November, is an annual event to showcase the great work that trustees do and highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference. For more information visit www.trusteesweek.org.

Communities in West Allerdale can apply for a share of £63,000 to fund environmentally friendly projects.

Set up by energy company E.ON UK and administered by Cumbria Community Foundation, the Robin Rigg West Cumbria Fund provides financial assistance to projects promoting sustainable use of energy and resources, reducing climate change, and supporting nature conservation.

Friends of Siddick Pond received £15,000 earlier this year to make improvements to the nature reserve, located behind Dunmail Park, while encouraging local school children to get involved with their work. Youngsters from Ashfield Junior School in Workington visited the site and have been working in partnership with the Workington Nature Partnership to create display boards for the interior of the bird hide by researching wildlife on the reserve, writing stories and drawing illustrations.

Annalee Holliday, Grants & Donor Services Officer at the Foundation, said: “The fund is of huge benefit to local people, having awarded more than £420,000 to projects addressing environmental needs, while also contributing to reducing the effects of climate change and providing educational opportunities for children and young people.”

The fund is open to charitable organisations in West Allerdale, from Workington to Silloth and inland to Embleton.

Successful groups can expect to receive £1,000 – £15,000 funding. Applications are now open until Friday 15th December 2017. To find out more about the Robin Rigg West Cumbria Fund see our grants page or contact the grants team on 01900 825760.

Charitable causes in and around the Barrow area have received a share of £45,000 thanks to the Barrow Community Trust.

Barrow Community Trust, administered by Cumbria Community Foundation approved eight applications supporting projects around health, wellbeing and serious illness, music and dance, and counselling, advice and mentoring.

Love Barrow Families received £30,000 over three years to stop the building at the heart of their project from closing. The centre works with families who suffer from physical and mental health issues, relationship difficulties, drug and alcohol abuse, anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, unemployment, and homelessness. Keeping the centre open means these families have a safe haven with an open door to support them in their time of need. Rebecca Morris, Children and Families Worker, said: “This is a project that has been truly designed by the families, for the families. Through our philosophy of co-production, with our families and partner agencies we have identified that the Love Barrow Families project is a life-line for families in the area.”

Age UK South Lakeland received £7,897 towards the Barrow Gateway Centre, providing a drop-in facility for local people, over the age of 18 to access information, advice and services. The centre also means there is a place for Age UK South Lakeland and their partners to meet with clients, hold training sessions and run community activities.

ARC (Active Recovery Community) Barrow received £1,169 to help with running their new minibus. The group organises activities and meetings for local people dealing with substance misuse and domestic violence issues. The minibus gives them the means of getting to and from the sessions easily so they can get back on the road to recovery.

Ellen Clements, Senior Grants & Donor Services Officer at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “In Barrow there is a high proportion of families finding it difficult to manage. Local organisations like Love Barrow Families, Age UK South Lakeland and ARC are vital in supporting them, and with the generosity of our fundholders can continue to do so.”

For more information or to apply visit our grants page or contact the grants team on 01900 825760.

The Cumbria Disaster Fund was set up by Cumbria Community Foundation following the floods in 2015 to provide immediate financial assistance to anyone who needs help following a disaster.

So far, the pot stands at £50,000 thanks to a contribution from the charity’s own funds. However, the Foundation is aware at its current level, the fund can only provide a limited level of support to uninsured households and is therefore keen to secure additional funding to increase the grant support available for the 200 homes flooded in Millom and south Cumbria.

Donations can be made to the Cumbria Disaster Fund via this link: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/cumbria-disaster-fund

Andy Beeforth, Chief Executive of Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “It has been devastating to see the damage done yet again to our community over the last few days. We want to do all we can to help and are pleased to be part of the coordinated response led by the County Council. We hope that our donation will help to bring immediate assistance to those most in need.”

Anyone wanting information about the fund and who and what will be eligible for funding, should click here or speak to the grants team on 01900 825760.

Cumbria Community Foundation has awarded nearly a quarter of a million pounds to support local causes across the county.

40 community organisations and 14 individuals have received a share of £220,000 at the recent grants panel. The funding will support a wide range of projects including therapy sessions, support for deprived young people and flood recovery.

Some of the funds that supported these applications were Cumberland Educational Foundation, Cumbria Young People’s Fund and Ullswater Trust Grassroots Grants.

The grants will help a wide range of people in places all over Cumbria.

Safety Net received £4,000 to provide equine assisted therapy sessions for people who have been victims of sexual abuse or exploitation, and domestic violence. It is the only group to offer free sessions like this in the area, and the horses will help them work through issues such as trust, self-belief and relationships to help rebuild their lives. Sessions will be available throughout Carlisle, Allerdale, Copeland and Eden.

Garden Life Community Garden, based in South Carlisle, received £2,215 to support the rehabilitation of young offenders through horticulture, as well as working with unemployed youngsters. The aim is to teach functional garden skills that can transferred to the working environment, and to give them the enthusiasm to look forward to what they can do in their lives.

Ellen Clements, Senior Grants & Donor Services Officer at the Foundation, said: “Our grants are vital in helping local people throughout our region, and we are ever grateful for the continued support of all our fund holders.”

Applications for the next round of funding need to be submitted by Friday 6th October 2017 to be reviewed by the panel on Tuesday 7th November 2017. For more information or to apply go to our grants page or contact the grants team on 01900 825760.

A young victim of theft has been awarded a games console from Cumbria’s Victims Charitable Trust, replacing what was stolen from him, after police investigating contacted the Cumbria Community Foundation for support.

Matthew, aged 17, who lives in foster care and is a voluntary member of the Children in Care Council, bought a Nintendo Switch about June only to have it stolen, soon after purchase, whilse on a city bus.

PC Mark Christie, who investigated the crime, found that Matthew had been saving the money since January and bought the console as a very late birthday present.

Police contacted the Cumbria Community Foundation and explained Matthew’s story and they agreed to fund a new console.

Matthew, who has an interest in gaming and app design, is now studying computer programming at Carlisle College following successful exam results at Richard Rose Academy.

PC Christie said: “Matthew has had an unsettled youth but since living with his foster parents, Colin and Judith, he has beaten adversity.

“Matthew mentors other disadvantaged children in care and has worked incredibly hard to get through his exams and achieve. He had waited and saved a long time to get this console and deserved to enjoy it.

“Unfortunately I was unable to trace those responsible for the theft, but we hope that this charitable donation goes someway to repairing the impact this crime had on Matthew.

“I would like thank Cumbria’s Victims Charitable Trust for sponsoring a new console for Matthew and wish him well in the future.”

The charity funded console was handed over by Inspector Andy Hanson, at Carlisle Youth Zone, which Matthew visits weekly.

On receipt of the console Matthew said: “Thank you very much to you all for doing this it’s amazing.”

Matthew’s foster parent Colin Thomason, who attended the presentation, said: “This was all made possible by Cumbria’s Victims Charitable Trust’s donation. We would like to say a huge thank you to all concerned. A very special thank you to PC Christie for all his care, hard work and obtaining a replacement Nintendo Switch for Matthew.”

Springfield Voices has received £8,820 through Cumbria Housing Partners Fund to support women affected by domestic abuse to restore their self-confidence and move on into education, training and employment.

Founded in 1915 as The Westmorland Association for Social and Moral Welfare the charity, based in South Lakeland, has positively transformed the lives of hundreds of women and their families for over a century and continues to do so today.

Angela Speak, Springfield Community Services Manager, says: “We are so grateful to Cumbria Housing Partners for their support. The grant is being used to fund our ’Dream It, Believe It, Achieve It’ and ’WISH’ (Women in Safe Hands) recovery programmes designed to support clients overcome the devastating after-effects of suffering domestic abuse at the hands of someone they loved and trusted.

“Clients often have an overwhelming loss of self-confidence and trust in other people; this can be a huge issue when applying for jobs. The programmes include support with CV writing and interview techniques as well as money management and life skills. By working in small groups, in a safe environment, we are able to help them start to rebuild their lives and return to a healthy, active life as part of their community whether through volunteering, employment or study.”

Alan Sandey, the Chair of Employment and Skills Group for Cumbria Housing Partners, said: “Cumbria Housing Partners is delighted to support Springfield Voices. This is a vital service that supports communities in which all the partners work for the benefit of everyone in Cumbria. At the core of Cumbria Housing Partners is supporting social value through collaboration and we look forward supporting further worthwhile projects in the coming months and years”

The Cumbria Housing Partners Fund, administered by Cumbria Community Foundation, provides grants of up to £10,000 to community and voluntary organisations running projects aimed at improving people’s employability or education.

Annalee Holliday, Grants & Donor Services Officer for Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “The fund offers a great opportunity to support projects led by community groups and smaller charities that are making a real difference to improve the lives of local people.”

Grants of up to £500 are also available to individuals aged 16 or over who wish to undertake work-based education or training to improve their employability. Activities which provide advice and guidance, support and engage people in their local community, and improve community facilities will also be considered.

Nineteen months after Storm Desmond devastated the county, the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund has supported more than 3,000 households and helped communities rebuild after the floods.

Managed by Cumbria Community Foundation, over £9 million has been awarded in total, with more than £2.5 million being invested in resistance and resilience measures for both households and communities, to help minimise the extent of damage in the future.

Dr Jenny Benson, Flood Fund Programme Manager, said: “As anyone who has been flooded will tell you, the experience is devastating and the effects are felt long after the water has subsided.

“Many of the thousands of residents whose homes were flooded have experienced significant additional costs. Even those whose financial circumstances initially appeared ‘comfortable’ have met with uninsured and unexpected losses.

“Some Insurers will only pay for like for like reinstatement, rather than the inclusion of resilience measures, for example, raising the height of electrics, concrete floors or stainless steel kitchen units. The fund is able to offer financial assistance to support this type of work.”

The Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund is able to top-up the Property Level Resilience (PLR) grants, administered by local district councils, if the costs exceed £5,000. The PLR grant scheme is now closed to new applications and works must be completed over the next few weeks.

Cumbria Community Foundation is encouraging flood affected people to apply for uninsured recovery costs and/or resilience top-up grants from the fund before the deadline of 30th September 2017.

Community organisations directly affected by the floods and who require funding for uninsured recovery costs and/or property resilience measures should apply to the fund by the deadline of the 11th August 2017.

The Foundation is embarking on the next phase of helping communities with their long-term recovery and will continue to invest in community resilience and flood readiness work. This phase will support projects and groups that help communities be better protected from and ready to respond to future flooding.

Jenny continues: “We have provided funding to a number of Flood Action and Community Emergency Response Groups to support the delivery of their longer term community resilience plans. Funding has already supported volunteer coordinators in Cockermouth, Keswick and Kendal and purchased volunteer equipment in other areas.

“The fund has not only helped residents with practical, financial and emotional support, it will also help to lay stronger foundations for future recovery programmes across the county.”

To find out more about the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund, or to make an application, click here. Alternatively, you can call the Foundation on 01900 825760 or email grants@cumbriafoundation.org

Grants and Donors Services Officer – Cumbria Community Foundation

30 hours per week (these hours are negotiable from Jan 2018)

Salary £22-£27K FTE

Due to our continued growth, we are seeking to appoint a confident and committed professional to join our Grants team.  The Grants and Donor Services Officer will work with existing team members to ensure funds and programmes are delivered to the highest standard as well as supporting the development of new funds.

The successful candidate will combine excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the relevant experience and enthusiasm to lead on a variety of funds and programmes of work.

If you’re looking for an opportunity where you can make a difference and want to work with an established organisation with a varied and interesting work load, then download the job description and an application form.

Please return your completed application form (a supplementary CV can be supplied in lieu of completing the application form as long as all relevant information is supplied) together with a covering letter explaining why you think you are suitable for the role.

This is a challenging and exciting opportunity to improve the lives of people in need in Cumbria by contributing to the philanthropic grant making capacity of the Community Foundation.

The post is based in our office in Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Cath Howard on 01900 825760.

Completed application forms or CVs should be emailed with a covering letter to jayne@cumbriafoundation.org (subject line marked Private & Confidential).

The closing date for applications is 9am Friday 14^th July 2017.  Interviews will be held week commencing: 24^th July.  Expected start date is 1^st October 2017 (negotiable).