Success Stories
Leamington Night Shelter
An organisation providing refuge for the homeless in Leamington has recently received a cash boost from Coventry and Warwickshire’s largest grant maker.
Leamington Night Shelter was awarded £920 from the High Sheriff Warwickshire Fund administered through the Heart of England Community Foundation to help train volunteers in first aid and food hygiene.
Run by 12 volunteers, the Shelter provides temporary respite from the elements for the homeless of Leamington. Offering washing facilities, a hot meal and for those that wish to stay a bed for the night, the Shelter opens between 9pm and 10 pm every Sunday.
Originally run from Bath Place Community Venture the Night Shelter was unfortunately destroyed by fire in September 2009. However, thanks to Radford Road Church the service has now re-opened for one night a week in the Church’s premises.
Carol Davies Grants Officer said “The Heart of England Community Foundation is delighted to support this group who do fantastic work for the homeless people in Warwickshire.
“I hope one day in the very near future the shelter will find permanent premises so they are able to open 7 nights a week which would be a dream come true for these dedicated people.”
Homelessness is a growing problem in the area and the Night Shelter would like to be able to open the every night but are unable to do so until they have found permanent premises. Anyone willing to assist them can contact Margaret Moore on 01926 312127.
The need for the facility was emphasised by Geoff Devlin who runs the Christian Mission soup kitchen in Leamington five nights a week.
A quick-step in the right direction
Residential care homes in Coventry and North Warwickshire are dancing with joy at the news of a new arts and health project.
Funding has been secured for the Dance Zone Elders Programme which will benefit older people from Coventry and North Warwickshire, including those who may have restricted mobility or dementia.
The scheme will not only bring dance performances to older people but will also join people together to improve their wellbeing, express themselves through movement and participate in tea dances.
Thanks to a grant of £2500 from Grassroots Warwickshire administered by the Heart of England Community Foundation, Omeetoo Combined Arts will be running the Dance Zone Elders Programme, at various locations across the area.
Each care home will host three movement sessions, including a Dance Zone performance, a chat, a tea break and a short tea dance for people to participate in. The programme will also include opportunities for independent creativity and personal expression, which is Dance Zone’s specialty.
The free sessions are running from Jan 25 to Feb 12th and are open to anyone interested in the growing field of dance for older people. Non-residents are very welcome but places are limited and only available by prior arrangement with Omeetoo on a first come, first served basis.
The project will be led by Bruce Tetlow, Artistic Director of Omeetoo Combined Arts, who has already worked for the past 18 months with the Council’s County Arts Service to deliver popular dance workshops for adults with learning disabilities.
Bruce Tetlow of Omeetoo explained: “Dance Zone offers a form of dance which is both relaxing and invigorating - dancing is infectious and audiences can quickly turn into participants.”
Bruce added: “Dance Zone participants pride themselves on being able to inspire a wide range of people.
“Those who take part will enjoy meeting new people and feel that their dance training is doing some good in their world and helping others.
“Finally, and potentially the most important thing, is to develop an awareness of all these benefits with care home staff, families of the elders, and the general public.”
Kat Hall, Grants Officer at the Heart of England Community Foundation commented: “Grassroots funding has helped many diverse and unusual activities across Coventry and Warwickshire, but this is one of the most heartwarming.
“To see so many people enjoying an expressive art form is truly inspirational.
Grassroots funding is available until the end of December 2010, so any groups interested in making an application should contact Kat on 02476884442.
If you work at a care home that may be interested in getting involved in the project or you are an individual who is interested in joining or volunteering with Dance Zone please get in contact with Bruce Tetlow, Project Coordinator, 07766562028
Email omeetoo@yahoo.co.uk
www.omeetoo.info
Whitnash Windmill Petanque Club
A popular sporting club in Leamington is celebrating the New Year after receiving a second award from the Heart of England Community Foundation.
Whitnash Windmill Petanque Club has received £689 to help provide secure storage and additional equipment for its growing numbers of players, from the Coventry and Warwickshire grant making charity.
Delighted Carol Woodward, Whitnash Windmill Petanque Club Secretary said: “Having somewhere safe to store the boule is an absolute godsend.
“We used to have to transport the club’s equipment back and forth each time we played, which for older members was problematic.
“The Club is extremely grateful to the Heart of England Community Foundation for its support yet again.”
Heart of England Community Foundation Grants Officer Kat Hall commented: “The Club provides a valued resource in Whitnash, encouraging the local community to enjoy sporting activity.
“The Foundation is delighted to support this initiative.”
Meeting at Whitnash Sports and Social Club, Heathcote Road on Mondays and Fridays, the club has seen membership rise from just 10 to 70 members since its founding by current chairman of the club, Cllr. Richard Sparkes in 2005.
Petanque, a form of the French game boules, is played by standing with feet together in a small circle and throwing hollow metal balls as close as possible to a wooden ball called a cochonnet. The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel surface.
Last year the club’s committee raised enough money to build a purpose-built pétanque terrain and received a grant of £2204 in May 2009 from the Grassroots Warwickshire fund, administered by the Heart of England Community Foundation, enabling them to provide a shelter.
More information on the club can be found on their website www.whitnashpetanque.co.uk
The Empowered Project Ltd
A community project based in Newbold has seen its numbers swell following a grant received from the Heart of England Community Foundation earlier this year.
Awarded £4965 from the Grassroots Warwickshire fund in May, the Empowered Project Ltd, based at the Methodist Church Hall on Main Street holds regular activity sessions after school, at the weekends and throughout the school holidays for anyone over the age of 8.
Speaking about the award Heart of England Community Foundation Grants Officer Kat Hall said: “This is a fabulous project ,run by dedicated members of the community.
“The youngsters have a brilliant time in a safe environment.”
Led by qualified and experienced staff, youngsters take part in organised activities including kayaking, climbing, performing arts, cooking, team building, art and crafts, as part of a programme to engage the community in developing peer mentors, trained young leaders and a Young Peoples Council.
Living in Newbold and the surrounding area, the group of young people and community volunteers aim to work together toward building a safer and stronger community.
Prior to establishing the Empowered Project Ltd in Newbold, there was no other community led initiative in the area.
Friends of Binley Little Wood
Access to a wooded area in Coventry will be improved for the enjoyment of residents for years to come.
Friends of Binley Little Wood, are delighted to have secured a grant of £2500 from Heart of England Community Foundation, to support their plans to provide safe pathways throughout the wood.
Administered by the Foundation, £2000 was awarded from Government funding through the Grassroots Coventry initiative, together with an additional £500 from the Community Foundation’s National Grid Fund.
Speaking about the award, Andrew Ireland, Chairman of the Friends of Binley Wood, said: “We had been severely stumped about how to fund the new pathways before approaching our local community foundation.
“The grants team at the Heart of England were very helpful and we are extremely grateful to them for the award.”
Kat Hall, Grants Officer at the Heart of England Community Foundation commented: “We felt this was an innovative project which had potential to make a real difference to lives of the people in Binley.”
Established in 2007, the Friends of Binley Wood are a group of local volunteers who regularly give their time to help maintain the wood in a good and safe condition.
Caring for the wood, trying to eliminate anti social behaviour, the Friends of Binley’s aim is to create access for all and to conserve and enhance the area by the planting of indigenous trees, shrubs and bulbs.
North Warwickshire Home Services
The kitchen at a North Warwickshire Lunch club has just got ‘hotter’ for a group of volunteers.
North Warwickshire Home Services is delighted to have been awarded a grant of £11,516 from Heart of England Community Foundation, to provide basic skills training for the group’s 18 volunteers at the lunch club in raising self-esteem, meeting and greeting, team building, catering and waitress skills and health and safety in food hygiene
Administered by the Foundation, the award has been made from the Community Grants Programme of the European Social Fund.
Dubbed ‘hot lunch’ the project aims to provide the volunteers with a mixture of both structured learning combined with practical experience gained at the lunch club.
Speaking about the award, Annette Gadd, Chairperson of North Warwickshire Home Services said: “The grants team at the Heart of England have been very helpful and we are extremely grateful to them.
"This award will enable us to provide specific training for volunteers, enabling them to fully understand the needs of our service users and also give them portable skills that may assist them into future employment."
Carol Davies, Grants Officer at Heart of England Community Foundation commented “The Foundation is delighted to support the group.
“Annette and the volunteers do a fantastic job in a rural part of North Warwickshire, giving local isolated people the necessary skills needed for the work place.”
Established in June 2007, North Warwickshire Home Services is based at Shustoke in North Warwickshire. The organisation provides transport for elderly housebound people in North Warwickshire in addition to running a fortnightly lunch club at Nether Whitacre Village Hall.
Stockingford Crusaders
Four wheeled travel has just got a whole lot easier for a group of freewheeling youngsters from Nuneaton.
BMX Club, The Stockingford Crusaders are thrilled to have secured almost £5000 from the Comic Relief fund which is administered locally by the Heart of England Community Foundation. The award will assist with transport costs for the group during the 2010 series and the purchase of vital safety equipment.
The looming expense of providing 2 mini buses to enable the Club to attend all away meets next summer was creating a problem for the Crusaders. It was a great concern to the club, that some of the youngsters aged 4-19 years, may not be able to afford to participate in the series.
Additionally, with the safety of its member’s paramount, the club needed to purchase supplementary protective equipment. Gloves go missing, helmets have to be replaced following impacts and kit wears out quickly in a rough and tumble activity.
Speaking about the award, Heart of England Community Foundation, Grants Officer, Kat Hall said: “The Crusaders have gone from strength to strength since I first met them, 18 months ago on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon.
“Sarah, David, and the rest of the volunteers work tirelessly and are so committed to the kids and the club, they have done an excellent job, which is often difficult.
“It has been a privilege to work with them and help them secure funding”
Growing rapidly, mainly through word of mouth, with threads on BMX Bloggs and local media interest the club has new youngsters turn up most weeks, some to watch and support and some to participate. Racing and freestyle riding are both always available.
The Stockingford Crusaders meet every Saturday at 1pm on the Stockingford Recreation Ground off Westbury Road and encourages disadvantaged youngsters to have something to invest in. The young people get the chance to race irrespective of whether they have their own bikes, as the club aims to provide a number of bikes to be used by members.