The impact of the pandemic on communities cannot be underestimated, and a number of organisations have been awarded grants from the Old Ford Community Panel to help them during what has been a tough time.
The resident-led panel covers the Tower Hamlets and Havering areas of London and has spent the past year coming to the aid of a number of local organisations in need of emergency funding.
Food banks and groups working to promote good mental health and tackle isolation and loneliness are just some of the things that have been supported by the panel. It has been allocating tens of thousands in grants with funding from Clarion Futures, our charitable foundation. Thousands of residents have benefited from the help given to support local services to keep going. And the BowHaven charity, Good Shepherd Food Bank, Bookmark reading charity, and Havering Volunteer Centre are some of the latest organisations to have received grants.
The panel is set to provide £75,000 in funding this year to support organisations working to help local people as the process of recovery from the pandemic continues.
Jackie Harris MBE, chair of the Old Ford Community Panel, said:
“it is my hope, and that of my colleagues on the Panel, that these grants will enable the recipients to strengthen what they do, both now and in the future, and continue making a difference.”
This article was featured in Your Clarion, our resident magazine.