The National Express Foundation, a charity set up in 2012 to help disadvantaged young people, has announced which local groups and universities will receive its community grant and bursary awards this year.
£60,000 of funding has been awarded to nineteen community groups across the West Midlands, South Essex, East London and - in a first for the charity - Kent.
Three West Midlands universities have also secured annual bursaries worth £30,000 to help disadvantaged young students continue in higher education.
The total £90,000 of funding is expected to benefit over 3,000 local young people through supporting them with the cost of their studies and helping the groups with the delivery of positive activities in the community.
The community groups and universities to benefit this year are:
- £2,500 Balsall Heath CATS, Birmingham
- £2,500 Bar N Bus Trust, Essex
- £2,500 Barking and Dagenham Unemployed People’s Association
- £2,500 Gatis Community Space, Wolverhampton
- £2,500 Gospel Oak Community Centre, Birmingham
- £2,500 Hall Green Youth, Birmingham
- £2,500 Handsworth Wood Youth Group, Birmingham
- £2,500 Health Psychology Management Organisation Services, Rainham
- £5,000 Heart and Soul Community CIC, Wolverhampton
- £5,000 Lee Chapel North Helping Hands Job Club, Basildon
- £5,000 Olio Hub, Darlaston
- £2,500 Our Place Community Hub CIC, Birmingham
- £2,500 Saathi House, Birmingham
- £5,000 Sheppey Matters, Kent
- £5,000 Shuffle Festival, Tower Hamlets
- £2,500 St Basils, Birmingham
- £2,500 This Way UP, Solihull
- £2,500 Well Grounded Jobs CIC, East London
- £2,500 Worth Unlimited, Birmingham
The three universities awarded with annual bursaries of £10,000 per year for the next three years are:
- Aston University
- Birmingham City University
- University of Wolverhampton
In another first since its launch four years ago, the Foundation has pledged to provide funding for three consecutive years for two of the community groups - Olio Hub and Lee Chapel North Helping Hands - rather than the usual award of a one-off community grant.
Olio Hub has been supported by the Foundation since 2013 and has grown and developed innovative ways in which to use funding to deliver fun and engaging activities for young people in Darlaston, West Midlands.
They have previously used Foundation funding to transform an overgrown yard into an outdoor play area, created a fitness room which is used by youngsters and other local community groups, and most recently to purchase specialist music equipment to enable 8-25 year olds to learn about and take part in sound engineering, tuition and recording all in one place.
The group, which was formed in 2012, has now secured £5,000 of Foundation funding per year until 2018. Some of this year’s funding will be used to purchase additional music instruments and some to pay for music tutors and workshops which will enhance the learning and development of young people who currently use the existing facilities. It will also help provide extra ‘Born to Perform’ activity sessions for even more young people who have previously been unable to join due to limited availability of equipment.
Sandra Adams from Olio Hub said, “we are absolutely thrilled that the Foundation has pledged funding for Olio Hub for the next three years. It will enable us to introduce new activities and engage even more young people in the area of Darlaston.”
Anthony Vigor, chairman of the National Express Foundation said, "we are delighted to announce the National Express Foundation funding awards for 2016. Our funding for the 19 successful community groups and three universities will help deliver even more positive and engaging activities for local young people and also help those who might not otherwise be able to continue with their studies in higher education.
“Since our launch in 2012 we have already helped over 8,000 local young people and with the latest round of funding awards we will be able to support over 3,000 more. We are looking forward to getting involved in the delivery of this year’s projects and really seeing how it helps our local young people progress in life.”
