The Charity was formed in November 2003, and In the first few years, we started to find our way, and develop our systems. Serious fundraising only began in 2007, as we became more widely known, and applications began to increase rapidly. This is shown in the first graph below. As the years have progressed, this growth has tended to thankfully stabilise, but the level of requests for help still present us with new fundraising challenges each year.
We make no predictions about where we might be going next, everything depends on our supporters, the funds raised, and the extent of applications for help we receive that comply with our grant criteria. Please see our Grant Applications page.
The level of activity in 2020 was significantly affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. Fundraising was particularly difficult as it was not possible to hold any large events, and many of the groups that collect for us throughout the year were unable to meet because of the restrictions. Despite reduced income we still managed to complete every request that was in accordance with our grant criteria, completing the year with 76 grants made at a cost of £83,253.