On Thursday 12th October we welcomed over 100 esteemed friends and guests to join us in celebration of our achievements during the last year. 

Foundation Live 17 (FL17), showcased 11 of the most amazing projects we’ve supported during the last 12 months. FL17, which was sponsored and hosted by PSA Group at their UK Headquarters in Coventry, also saw our CEO inform the audience about our vision for the future and our three-year strategic priorities.

The evening also served as the launch of our Annual Report. Every member of the audience received a copy of the report entitled ‘Our Year’ which features fascinating stories, facts and statistics about our work during 2016-17.

During the event, our outgoing Chairman, Paul Belfield addressed the audience with a passionate talk about his 4 years at the helm, commenting on the many strides we’ve made before handing over to our incoming Chairman Phil Ewing.

Speaking about his appointment, Phil Ewing told the audience:

“Paul has set a very hard act to follow. The Foundation has flourished so much that now we are often being approached for help and input as opposed to having to prize open the donor coffers quite so much. I am humbled and looking forward to the challenges ahead!”

FL17 showcased some fantastic performances from Imagineer Productions and Northern Star Community Arts as well as an emotionally charged address from Cheryl Soonius, Founder of Coventry based homeless outreach project God’s Coffee Shop.

Cheryl told first-hand how a grant from the Community Foundation helped to change lives and make such an enormous difference to the local homeless community. Cheryl continued:

“I’m so grateful to the Foundation for giving me this platform. They have helped me hugely and I’m sure we will continue to work together in the future!”

Following on from the evening, our Chief Executive, Tina Costello, said:

“First of all, thank you to all of the projects and to PSA Group who made last night’s event possible. It was a very enjoyable evening and it’s brilliant to bring such a diverse mix of people together, to make new connections and hopefully, more importantly, improve communities.”

Re-live the night with our moments page on Twitter.