A London funder has given over £121,000 to a range of organisations working in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to pay for activity programmes for young people and their families living in and around the Grenfell Tower area.

The City of London Corporation’s charitable arm, City Bridge Trust, awarded the grants to support sports, dance and theatre workshops.

Grants include £10,000 to QPR in the Community Trust for sports programmes, therapy sessions and volunteering opportunities for local young people, £6,600 to Sport4Health Community Interest Company for weekly after-school badminton sessions for girls and young women and £10,000 to the Catholic Children’s Society towards a three-week theatre programme based at St Charles Primary School, where many pupils were greatly affected by the tragedy.

City Bridge Trust has awarded the grants as a member of a coalition of funders working together to support people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

In the two weeks after the Grenfell Tower fire, several funders, third sector agencies and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea were brought together by the John Lyons Charity to fund and run a series of summer holiday activities for young people affected by the disaster.

As part of that collaboration, City Bridge Trust awarded funding to 18 organisations in July and has now continued the initiative by awarding further grants for activity programmes up to late 2018.

This brings the total figure granted by City Bridge Trust to support young people and their families living in and around the Grenfell Tower area to £235,555.

Alison Gowman, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust committee, said:

“The unbreakable strength of London’s communities has really shone through with the remarkable response to the tragic events in the capital over the last year.

“The activities we are supporting will help to bring the community even closer together at what is still such a difficult time for everyone living in the Grenfell area.

“It is important funders work together to support this community and this initiative is a good example of such a successful collaboration.

“We are committed to tackling disadvantage across the capital and making London a fairer and better place to live.”

Fiona Hodgson, Business Development Manager at QPR in the Community Trust, said:

“The project will mentor local young people directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, to support them to take positive steps for their future through sports sessions, therapy, leadership opportunities, volunteering and employability. We are looking forward to starting the sessions in January 2018.”

Nigel Warrack, Secretary at Flying Gorillas, which has received funding for dancing workshops for local young people, added:

“The fact that young musicians from Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Turkey are visiting North Kensington specifically to work and play with children affected by Grenfell will help children understand that other people care about them very much, even if they live very far away.

“The sessions will help them to enjoy life in this traumatised but remarkably strong community.”

In September this year, City Bridge Trust awarded £100,000 to Kensington & Chelsea Citizens Advice Bureau Service and London Emergencies Trust to support the response and recovery work after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The charitable funder provides grants totalling around £20million per year towards charitable activity benefitting Greater London. It has awarded over 7,700 grants totalling over £370 million since it first began in 1995. It is London’s biggest independent grant giver, tackling disadvantage across the Capital. City Bridge Trust is committed to making London a fairer place to work and live.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Organisations that have been awarded grants for activity programmes include:

• QPR in the Community Trust - £10,000 towards a sports programme for young people in the Grenfell area, also offering therapy sessions, volunteering opportunities and opportunities to increase employability such as additional qualifications.
• Home Start Westminster - £10,000 towards a programme of general support for children and families affected by the Grenfell fire
• Horniman’s Adventure Playground Association - £10,000 towards extra staff at the adventure playground to boost the level of service offered to young people.
• Lancaster West Community Children’s Network - £10,000 providing school holiday activities for young people in the Grenfell area.
• Play Association Hammersmith and Fulham - £10,000 towards school holiday activities for young people.
• Rugby Portobello Trust - £10,000 towards providing a free programme of activities for young people in the Grenfell area.
• Sport4Health Community Interest Company - £6,600 towards weekly after-school badminton sessions for girls and young women in the Grenfell area.
• Sport & Leisure Management Ltd - £10,000 towards a summer holiday programme in 2018
• Venture Community Association - £10,000 over one year towards the costs of providing play activities in school holidays for young people in the Grenfell area.
• Catholic Children’s Society - £10,000 towards the costs of a three-week summer theatre programme based at St Charles Primary School.
• Flying Gorillas - £10,000 to provide free dance workshops for young people in the Grenfell area.

Funders have been working together to make the best use of resources, others involved in supporting local organisations with activities include: BBC Children in Need; RBK&C; Kensington & Chelsea Foundation; Caritas; DHL; Big Lottery; Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Media Enquiries

Kristina Drake

Media Officer, City of London Corporation

Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk

07710860884 / 020 7332 1125