Appeal target reaches major milestone

A fund we launched to help small charities and community groups tackle the effects of the pandemic has broken the £1 million barrier.

We launched our Wiltshire and Swindon Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund on March 20 and since then we have raised more than £1 million and distributed more than £750,000 to more than 200 community groups.

Our interim co-chief executive Fiona Oliver said "The help of the public in Wiltshire and Swindon has been remarkable. We are truly thankful for what has been an overwhelming response to this appeal. When we launched the appeal, we were hopeful of raising £50,000 and then we reset that to £150,000. The money kept coming in and we set a new target of £500,000 and then when we passed that we aimed at £1 million. Now the incredible generosity of people in the county has taken us past this and we’ve revised our target again to £1.5 million.”

As well as public support, we have been received generous support from charitable trusts, businesses including the Zurich Community Trust, Wessex, Water, Thames Water, the Oakfield Development in Swindon and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s fund.

The groups to have benefitted have included foodbanks, youth charities and those caring for the elderly and people with disabilities as well as charities dealing with mental health, domestic abuse, homelessness, loneliness, isolation and, education.

Our fund has helped long-established charities including Age UK and Wiltshire Sight as well as groups that sprang up specifically to deal with the crisis, such as the Devizes COVID19 response Group who were given £3,000 to set up a call centre for its army of volunteers who did shopping and collected prescriptions for elderly and vulnerable people shielding at home. Rev Keith Brindle said: “We couldn’t have sustained the operation, particularly the call centre, without the grant.”

Wilton HELP was given £2,600 to mobilise more than 100 volunteers. Wilton Town Council operations manager Steve Milton said: “The grant was great, and we were very grateful because it allowed us to keep going and match the commitment of our brilliant volunteers.”

The Warminster Action Group was given £2,600 to mobilise volunteers to go shopping and collect prescriptions for elderly and vulnerable people shielding at home. Committee member Simon James said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved, and the Wiltshire Community Foundation has been incredibly helpful. It will not only allow us to consolidate what we have been doing currently but allow us to expand.”

Stratton Juniors Football Club was given £2,000 to cook and deliver hundreds of hot lunches to elderly people shielding alone at home. Chairman Magnus Painter said: “The grant from Wiltshire Community Foundation has been brilliant and not only did it help us keep going for a couple of months, but it helped us buy good quality, nutritious food.”

Salisbury MP John Glen told us: “I send my warmest congratulations,” he said. “It is a testament to how highly regarded they are in the community and in charitable circles. 

"The community foundation is a truly local charity that has no dogma guiding its philanthropy and can adapt and rise to meet any challenge the people of Wiltshire face. The county is lucky to have them.”

Swindon North MP Justin also said: “It is fantastic to see £1 million raised for our vital voluntary groups who are supporting our communities in these unprecedented and challenging times. It is a real credit to the Wiltshire Community Foundation and their very kind donors that this much needed support has been organised at such a critical time.”

Swindon South MP Robert Buckland added: “ I would like to thank everyone here in Swindon who has supported the community foundation. I would also like to pay tribute to the team at the Wiltshire Community Foundation who have worked tirelessly to help achieve this goal at such a difficult time.”

North Wiltshire MP James Gray said: “It was fantastic to hear that £1 million has been raised to support voluntary groups in Swindon and Wiltshire, and I am very grateful for all the donors who have helped the community foundation to reach this figure. This is an amazing achievement and I know what a great difference that will make to the groups across the community, especially during this extremely challenging time.”

Devizes MP Danny Kruger added: “I am particularly proud of Wiltshire residents who have donated £1 million and I am so grateful to the foundation for all the hard work in distributing the funds so quickly to the many vital organisations responding to the crisis on the frontline.”

Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan said: “It is not only a testament to our community spirit here in Wiltshire, but to the selfless and unrelenting effort by those at the Wiltshire Community Foundation.

“When we look back on the coronavirus emergency, we will remember achievements like these as what defines us as such a charitable and giving community. I could not be prouder of those who made this all possible.”

South West Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison also told us: “A big well done to the Wiltshire Community Foundation for rising to the challenge presented by COVID19. Voluntary organisations have been stretched because volunteers have had to stay at home and because revenue has fallen and yet their services have been in increased demand. This money will make a big difference.”

Mrs Oliver said that despite her and her colleagues’ delight at reaching £1 million, the hard work goes on. “For many people in Wiltshire facing losing their job or reduced hours the hardship is only just beginning and the voluntary sector is going to be needed more than ever before.

“But at the same time many of these vital groups are struggling to keep going after losing months of fundraising so our fund is just as much an important lifeline for them now as it was back in March. We very much still need the support of the people of the county.”