At 7pm on Wednesday 16th July at Hardwick Hall Hotel in Sedgefield, we were
very excited to announce that small community groups and projects are to benefit
from a £1,442,000 cash injection, after County Durham Foundation won
a Government contract to distribute funding to grassroots good causes and
encourage philanthropists to set up their own funds to help their communities.
Find out how you can take advantage of the Grassroots Endowment Challenge Fund.
A recent article published by Third Sector Review shows that the money available
to community foundations has doubled over the past four years.
Read
the full story.
Many local organisations, large and small, helped us to make a difference
this Christmas by purchasing their cards from our Gift Shop and making a donation
to a good cause of their choice.
Read
the full press release.
The
Tony Blair Sports Foundation is launchedAs you have probably heard in the news, this week saw the launch of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which will be based in his old constituency home in Sedgefield. What you might not realise is that his Foundation is actually part of County Durham Foundation.
We were chosen by Mr Blair to offer governance and management support to his staff, who are employed by us. The Tony Blair Sports Foundation will increase participation in sport by young people, particularly those who are currently socially excluded, by inspiring more adults to become trained coaches; by providing access to training and matching coaches with sports clubs and schools.
Read the official press release.
Would
you like to take part in Durham's biggest and best cycling event this summer?
Then you must take part in The Durham Big Ride! The event takes place on Sunday
16th September and offers two routes to cater for people of all abilities.
There's a 3 mile circuit for kids and less confident cyclists as well as a
25 mile round route around Durham for those who relish a challenge.
The ride costs £12 per person to enter but if you decide to enter and
raise over £25 for Darlington Champions or County Durham Foundation
we will pay your £12 entry fee. The event is very much a ride rather
than a race and as well as raising much needed money for people in your town
you will be able to enjoy a pleasant summers day cycle (weather permitting!).
A team of Foundation staff will be joining in the fun too. Click
here to download the cycle routes.
To help you raise money we have created a sponsorship form which you can download
here. Or to make it even easier and save hours of time collecting money
you could create your very
own fundraising page. It really is worth doing, all donations are secure
and sent electronically to County Durham Foundation. If you are a UK taxpayer,
Justgiving will automatically reclaim 28% Gift Aid on your behalf, so your
donation is worth even more. To get started visit http://www.justgiving.com/cdf/raisemoney,
you can create your own individual page or if you are part of a team, why
not have a group page?
Click here to download an application
form.
Click here to download
a sponsorship form.
For more information about the Durham Big Ride visit http://durhambigride.mysite.orange.co.uk.
Darlington has recently been named as a sustainable travel town by transport
minister Gillian Merron. Research from the department of transport found that
Darlington is a UK leader in sustainable travel with a 14% increase in public
transport trips, 29% increase in walking, and 11% drop in car trips since
figures were last collected 3 years ago. Cycling is the major winner with
an impressive 79% increase in cycling trips.
Gillian Merron said: "These results show that simple things like giving people information about public transport, starting car share schemes and encouraging people to walk and cycle more can have startling results. People in Darlington are already starting to swap their cars for walking, cycling and public transport. This can only be a good thing for reducing local congestion and pollution, improving people's health and helping to tackle climate change. I hope that this trend will continue, and that more and more local authorities will learn from these towns example."
To those of you who cycle in to work, take the bus, or try to walk whenever practical, very well done. To those of you who don't, perhaps now is the time to join the Darlington cycling revolution.
A big congratulations to North Lodge District Guides Association
for being randomly selected to receive our second Voluntary Sector Subscription
award.
Over 170 girls from many deprived local wards of Darlington attend the guide
group. The group provides a place where the girls can meet, make friends and
take part in educational activities. If this sounds like something your child
might be interested in, the group are in need of 5-6 year old girls to join
their rainbow group on Thursday nights. For details contact Elizabeth on 01325
482912.
County Durham Foundation randomly select one voluntary sector group each quarter
from the list of it's subscribers to receive a £250 award, as a thank
you to the groups who have chosen to support them. The award can be used to
help pay for activities, equipment or running costs.
For your chance to be our next quarterly winner, and for more details, click
here
Any businesses and individuals thinking of joining Darlington Champions as a Platinum Champion have a fantastic limited opportunity to double their fund. Thanks to the generosity of British American Tobacco anyone setting up a fund of £25,000 or more can increase the size of their donation pound-for-pound. This offer is on a first-come, first-served basis, so contact us now to find out how to take advantage of this offer.
Click here to find out how to become a Platinum Champion.