£374,646 boost for Essex-based causes as Provide Community more than triples its community grants

Essex-based social enterprise, Provide Community, has announced the release of its biggest round of funding to date, with 27 local charities and community groups awarded grants totalling £374,646.

The successful funding applicants include homeless charities CHESS in Chelmsford and Beacon House in Colchester, Essex Blind Charity, Farleigh Hospice caring for terminally ill patients in mid Essex, Headway Essex supporting individuals with an acquired brain injury, CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) and the Laughter Specialists, providing entertainment to severely ill children.

Many have been awarded grants of over £15,000 each, with some reaching as much as £20,000.

As a Community Interest Company (CIC) responsible for the delivery of health and social care services across Essex and East Anglia and beyond, Provide Community reinvests its profits to benefit the communities it serves.

“Our strategic grants enable us to extend our support beyond the services we deliver.”

Each year, Provide Community works in partnership with Essex Community Foundation (ECF) to shortlist charities and groups that have applied for funding, before turning to its members to vote for their preferred recipients and decide on how its surpluses should be distributed.

Last year, a total of £103,012 was awarded to 16 charities through this initiative. With a goal to increase this year-on-year, Provide Community has more than trebled its community funding in 2022, taking the total amount of grant and match funding to more than £3.5 million in the last 10 years.

Mark Heasman, Group Chief Executive of Provide Community, explained how investing in local communities is an important part of the company’s ethos:

“This year’s funding provision is a fantastic achievement for the business, supporting our vision to transform lives through care, innovation and compassion.

“Everyone at Provide makes a difference to the communities within which we operate and crucially has a say in how we do this. We all care about making a long-lasting impact on those we work for, and our strategic grants enable us to extend our support beyond the services we deliver.”

The full list of charities that received funding along with the amount awarded can be found on Provide Community’s website via www.provide.org.uk/latest-news.