Our second round of Community Support Scheme funding for 2025 awarded donations to seven local charities.
The Community Support Scheme offers funding to organisations in and around our ten branch towns. Applications are open four times each year, and typical grant amounts range from £100-£500. The second round of applications for 2025 closed at the end of April, and we were excited to make donations to the following organisations.
We donated £1,000 to Great Western Railway, based in Didcot, to be able to offer families and others free admission to the Didcot Railway Centre and provide them with a hot meal.
Nationally around 28,000 people with physical and learning difficulties are helped to achieve personal goals, through riding, vaulting and carriage driving each year. We donated £500 which will support Lambourn RDA with rising costs and ensure that their riders don't lose access to the amazing support that this organisation provides.
£500 will support MyVision Oxfordshire with their 'Wellness and Crafting' sessions. These sessions are held monthly in the Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot. Each session is made up of an activity such as meditation and a crafting exercise like finger-painting, weaving or making mosaics. Attendees have found that the sessions have a wonderful impact on their well-being, with one saying it "brought them back to their childhood".
Our donation of £250 will be used to upgrade some of the equipment that they regularly use in the Men's Shed. The Men's Shed helps battle loneliness and social isolation by running workshops where members can meet and engage in practical activities including wood turning and carving. They also support other local charities by creating owl boxes and benches.
A £500 donation will assist Oxford Breast Buddy Group with the production of their patient binder folders and post-surgery goody bags. The goody bags are filled with brilliant items such as a heart-shaped cushion to support patients after they have had surgery, useful leaflets and a letter of support from a previous patient. The binders are so useful for new patients as they provide a secure location for them to store all medical documents.
This organisation rescues and rehabitilitates sick, injured or orphaned wildlife, all the way from tiny mice to majestic deer. The donation of £750 will help efforts to build new enclosures and an aviary.
The Camrose Centre support people aged 18 and over who are sleeping rough or having difficulty coping financially, socially, or emotionally. They run regular, weekly sessions in which these people can attend and speak to a trained support worker who provides a non-judgmental listening ear. Our donation of £500 will help The Camrose Centre run these sessions.
Does your organisation need support?
The next Community Support Scheme round closes on Wednesday 30 April 2025. For more information and to apply, please visit our Community Support Scheme page or pick up a paper application form in your local branch.