News

The Fore is proud to announce the completion of its Autumn 2021 Funding Round. Through its core funding programme, The Fore has provided unrestricted grants to 14 innovative small charities and social enterprises. The Fore provides critically needed seed funding, skills support and training to help small high-impact organisations to thrive.

We have continued our outreach to micro-organisations (incomes under £100,000). This has been done with the aim of reaching charities and social enterprises led by and working with marginalised groups. In this funding round, micro-organisations submitted 54% of applications and received 64% of our grants this round. This growing share of micro-organisations strongly suggests we have tapped into an area where demand is not currently being met.

The Fore is particularly proud of the regional distribution of applications for its funding. Tis funding round 86% of applications were from organisations from outside London, the highest proportion since the Fore’s inception. This validates The Fore’s effort in engaging communities throughout the UK to increase awareness of its work to support. All grants from the Autumn 2021 Funding Round went to organisations based outside London as well.

Our inclusive, sector-agnostic approach to funding has yielded a vibrant new cohort of grantees; examples include:

The full list of organisations ultimately selected for funding are among the very best small charities and social enterprises in the UK. They include: 

Alice

Alice supports children and families in times of crisis within the communities of Stoke-On-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme. To date they have undertaken over 4,000 welfare calls, fed 1,615 adults and 3,096 children through the provision of subsidised food in their community café and provided 126 families with crucial infant equipment. Alice is using funding from The Fore to employ a Digital Marketeer who will allow the organisation to increase their fundraising profile and reach new audiences with a focus on alerting young people to Alice’s services.

Chopwell Regeneration

Chopwell Regeneration is a grass roots community charity founded to improve the economic conditions of the village and its residents. It is  opening a donation-driven café to train residents in hospitality industry skills, provide the community with a social space, and tackle food poverty among village residents. Chopwell Regeneration will use the The Fore grant to hire the chef and trainer who will run the café’s food services and teach the participants in the programme.

Clowns Without Borders

Clowns Without Borders UK is part of a global federation of organisations using clowning to promote personal and community pyscho-social healing for children in desperate humanitarian situations.  Through play, joy, and laughter, CWB teaches children how to be children again, helping them to heal, learn and thrive. Their participation in humanitarian programmes has been sought by large aid agencies, including Plan International, Save the Children, UNHCR, UNICEF, and Oxfam. CWB is using funding from The Fore to support development of a trading arm that will help independently finance their work.

Feeding Families

In partnership with local charities and organisations, Feeding Families fills gaps in food provision, giving emergency support to those not able to access food banks. Its work reaches victims of domestic violence, refugees and asylum seekers, individuals experiencing homelessness, and the elderly. It supports schools with provision for those who fall outside the free meals criteria and those with benefit delays. In the past 12 months it has delivered more than 78k meals to over 25k vulnerable people. Feeding Families is using funding from The Fore to purchase a van and scale up, allowing the organisation to meet demand currently unmet due to a lack of transportation.

Humber Job Hub

Humber Job Hub is a not-for-profit social enterprise set up by residents of East Riding. They provide employment support to people who are unemployed and returning to work after children, illness, redundancy, or retirement. They offer one-to-one, specialist guidance to those who cannot access services from the Job Centre and are not eligible for other support. The Fore’s grant will allow them develop strategic partnerships with local businesses and other public sector stakeholders that will place more beneficiaries into jobs.

Linacre Institute

The Linacre Institute is a mentoring organisation helping students from northern state schools win places at leading universities where they are underrepresented. Its flagship programme is expert-led and designed around the academic aspirations and personal needs of students. The results achieved by the Linacre Institute are extraordinary: 98% of the participants won places at Russell Group universities, and 44% were accepted by Oxbridge. The Linacre Institute is using The Fore’s grant to employ a Partner School and Programme Coordinator. The role will enable the organisation to reach more beneficiaries and grow partnerships with local schools.

Manchester Urban Diggers

Manchester Urban Diggers (MUD) is a social enterprise that introduces people to urban food growing to improve food security. Since MUD’s launch in 2019, it has introduced over 500 residents to food growing, developed 6 local gardens and rejuvenated local spaces. MUD sells sustainably grown produce to help fund its work. They are using The Fore’s grant to recruit a part time Marketing Manager who will create and implement a marketing plan for a subscription offer of MUD’s products.

Northumberland Pride

Northumberland Pride serves the local LGBTQ+ community, addressing issues of integration, sexual health, physical activity, domestic violence, sexual abuse. They also support on a range of mental health issues in a vast region where there is insufficient access to this kind of support.  The Fore’s grant will fund additional staff so they can expand the vital services they offer. It will also free senior leadership to focus on developing the organisation’s ongoing strategy and sustainability plans.

Paracheer

Paracheer International works to make cheerleading an inclusive activity that is open to people with mobility-related disabilities. Global experts in inclusive cheerleading, Paracheer has developed over 50 disability inclusive cheerleading teams in over 17 countries. They have done this  through the provision of athlete workshops, training for coaches and the development of governance standards. In the UK, there are four Paracheer cheerleading hubs where disabled people can learn and participate in the sport. The Fore grant will expand this by two additional hubs, bringing Paracheer closer to more communities and their residents.

Potential Kids

Potential Kids is a Hertfordshire-based charity improving the wellbeing of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). PK offers a ‘safe place’ that the whole family can make use of. They offer a variety of activities including yoga, mindfulness classes, 1:1 cycling sessions, and art therapy. PK is using funding from The Fore to employ two part-time Programme Coordinators to serve more children, carers, and families as well as increase the organisation’s profile.

Restart Enterprise

Restart is a young and dynamic social enterprise. They promote the well-being of those in prison, leaving prison, their family members, support networks and anyone in the local community affected by imprisonment. The organisation is unique in its approach. They combine welfare services to prisoners and ex-prisoners with a social enterprise model where beneficiaries can also develop employability skills. Restart is using funding from The Fore to employ an Operations Manager who will assist the CEO. This will free up capacity and allow the organisation to develop new income-generating projects.

SEAS Sailability

SEAS Sailability is a volunteer-led charity which supports disabled people from North Wales to get active in a safe and social environment. SS has grown from taking 40 disabled people, their families and carers sailing in 2017 to 938 in 2019. The Fore’s grant will fund a transformative new programme that will train former participants with disabilities to gain the qualifications they need to participate as volunteers.

Spring Centre

The Spring Centre is a charity supporting young people with a range of physical, mental and learning disabilities who, at 18, leave children’s provision but are not yet ready to manage the transition to adult facilities. The Spring Centre’s programme includes after school clubs, holiday clubs and pre-school services. They also connect parents with professionals who can help them in applications for further special needs support. The Spring Centre will use The Fore’s funding to be able to take more referrals from social services and diversify its revenue while aiding more beneficiaries.

Standing Tall

Standing Tall is a Birmingham-based CIO set up by Christy Acton. He previously founded a night shelter where he matched individuals experiencing homelessness with businesses willing to give them a chance. He has now developed Standing Tall’s two-pronged approach to providing jobs and a stable home for the homeless. The organisation is using funding from The Fore to employ a Programme Coordinator in Bristol, where the charity is setting up a new hub.