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| Norfolk Community Foundation
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| Welcome |
Welcome to the September edition of the Norfolk Community Foundation E-Zine.
It is true to say that my first three months with the Foundation have passed in a blur of meetings.
It has been important to re-establish our place within the thoughts of our sector partners and achieving this has given me the opportunity to engage with both Voluntary Norfolk and NCVO to review the funding challenges facing the voluntary sector over the next 10 years and to identify new and innovative ways of securing the sector's financial position.
I am pleased to say that Foundations will play a prominent role in that future provided that we continue to focus on our core strengths of matching donors, be they individuals, businesses or government, to the needs of the community.
On a personal level I am grateful for the support of our Trustees and Patrons in helping me settle in and providing me with the support I need to go out and promote the Foundation.
I feel we are now going from strength to strength and we have a unique opportunity to influence the sector and grow our funds in what remain difficult times.
 Graham Tuttle Director |
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| NCF teams up with Comic Relief |
 The Foundation is very pleased to announce that it was recently appointed by Comic Relief as its grant giving partner for Norfolk for the next two years.
This is a very important and prestigious appointment for us and evidences our growing reputation.
The Foundation has £85,000 to give away over those two years to support community and sports based charities and community groups, which remain very much the focus of the Comic Relief and Sports Relief activities.
The Foundation was also successful in a competitive tender against six other Foundations across the East of England to secure a further £30,000 of Comic Relief funding to support a single significant project over two years outside of the Norwich area.
The Foundation will be bringing you news of the successful applicant in the next newsletter. |
| The Foundation makes the Headlines |
| The Foundation was very fortunate to secure a full page lead article in a recent edition of EDP2.
Whilst ever mindful of the need to continue to develop our donors and secure new donations to support our grant giving, the article rightly focuses on the Foundation's grant giving capability and importantly the support it offers to charities and community groups across the county. A quote from the article highlights the challenges we have and Graham's vision for the future of the Foundation.
This article has led to a considerable amount of positive feedback from the voluntary sector generally, where we continue to build relationships, and importantly from potential donors. The whole article can be viewed through the link on the NCF website homepage.
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| Grassroots - campaign update |
We are delighted to report that in the first year of the Grassroots Grants Programme, the Foundation has awarded 151 grants totalling £340,975 against a target of £338,211.
Encouragingly the Foundation has received a number of letters of thanks, two of which are shared below:
Hazel Grimsdale, of Surviving Together: "The management committee of Surviving Together is immensely grateful to the Fund for enabling us to continue to help women survivors of childhood sex abuse. We are encouraged by the changes we see happening in our members' lives and by the value placed on the support they receive and give to each other."
Diane Doyle, of Norfolk Association for the Disabled: "This money will allow us to increase our opening hours and enable us to help more disabled people than before. It is heart-warming to know that some people still support the little charities... it would be a great loss if we were forced to close through lack of funds."
About Grassroots
As you all know the Foundation was awarded the Government's Grassroots Programme to distribute £1.1 million in grants before March 2011.
If we can also raise £1.6 million in new endowment before March 2011 the Government will give us another £0.8 million!
Through this scheme, administered by Norfolk Community Foundation, all new donations however big or small will be doubled by the Treasury through matching of £1,000 for every £2,000 donated, and where eligible the gift aid can be matched too; companies and higher rate tax payers can then reclaim a minimum of 20% of their donation back through their tax return.
Also through this challenge a higher rate tax payer can establish a £25,000 named fund to support the issues and communities in Norfolk you care about most, for just £9,750.
 To see how this works in detail take a look at the "endowment challenge overview" under Grassroots on our website
To find our more contact NCF on 01603 623 958
Norfolk Community Foundation would like to thank its partners in the Grassroots programme, Voluntary Norfolk, Norfolk Rural Community Council and West Norfolk Voluntary and Community Action for their support in the delivery of this programme. |
| Norfolk 100 plus |
The Norfolk 100 continues to go from strength to strength and under its new title of the "Norfolk 100 plus" we now have 120 members.
Under the stewardship of our Trustee Peter Colby the Norfolk 100 has been a huge success. It has delivered vital grants in excess of £80,000 to the Norfolk community and helped in the long term sustainability of the Foundation and its valuable work.
We are pleased to advise that the role of the Norfolk 100 has also been recognised at a national level with an invitation to Graham Tuttle to present on the first day of the Community Foundation Network Conference in Nottingham on 8th to 10th September.
The Norfolk 100 is seen as an exemplary scheme which some Foundations have already adopted, and others are considering, developing both their fund building and linking new donors to the work of Foundations across the UK.
Who are the Norfolk 100? See our website for a full list. |
| Date for your Diary |
On Tuesday 27th October at the John Innes Centre, the Foundation is launching a new initiative, called simply 'Love Norfolk'.
It is designed to help those of us who love the County to make a difference right here at home.
It will also provide a new and refreshing impetus to the work of the Foundation after the end of the Grassroots Challenge.
The evening will get off to an entertaining start with an introduction by Karl Minns, one half of the comedy duo The Nimmo Twins, best known for their hugely successful series of shows, 'Normal for Norfolk'.
Then we will hear from community expert and inspiring speaker Richard Radcliffe, who works for Smee & Ford in London.
There will also be a chance to share your views on the work of the Foundation and how we can practically show that we "Love Norfolk".
Drinks and a buffet will, of course, help the evening flow.
This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us associated with the Foundation in whatever guise to meet and celebrate its work.
We'll be sending out Invitations shortly and we very much hope you will be able to join us.
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I hope you have enjoyed this edition of the E-Zine and we always welcome your feedback on our articles and ideas for new features in subsequent editions.
With that in mind please feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions.
You can contact me at
grahamtuttle@norfolkfoundation.com
Sincerely,
Graham Tuttle
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