The Buckinghamshire Building Society is to launch the ‘2021 Here To Help Fund’ of £75,000 in association with Heart of Bucks, to help the people of Buckinghamshire recover from the difficult past few years.
Over many years, the mutual has created an endowment fund from their profits to support a consistent annual level of charitable giving. This year, it feels that it is the right time to significantly increase the level of contribution to support local voluntary and charitable organisations in their efforts to help the community to rebound from the difficulties of the recent crisis period.
The 2021 Here To Help Fund will be divided into two categories – one award of £40,000 in addition to a total of £35,000 split into a number of smaller grants of up to £5,000 each.
Not for profit organisations across Buckinghamshire are invited to apply for the Award and Small Grants Programme and Heart of Bucks will host an independent panel to determine which causes will be supported.
of Bucks is a community foundation based in Buckinghamshire whose expertise is in ensuring that charitable giving is directed to the organisations and projects that need it most. Heart of Bucks has partnered with Buckinghamshire Building Society for many years in assisting its charitable giving activities.
The £40,000 Award will go towards helping those charities and not for profit organisations in the Health & Wellbeingsector, and the Small Grants Programme will support those most in need within the Community Cohesion and Isolation & Disadvantage categories. Applications open today (1 September) and will remain open until 24 November 2021. The successful applicants will be announced on 26 January 2022.
Gerard O’Keeffe (pictured), CEO, Buckinghamshire Building Society, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce the launch of the Buckinghamshire Building Society 2021 Here To Help Fund, with our friends at Heart of Bucks. It has been an extraordinary time by any standards and we are determined to make good on the purpose of our business to give support to the Buckinghamshire community in a meaningful, tangible way.
“The non-profit sector has been hard hit as a result of the pandemic, so the aim of this new £75,000 Fund is to provide Buckinghamshire-based charities and voluntary organisations with funding that will facilitate the completion of projects and initiatives that otherwise may not be achievable. Ultimately, we want to help those most in need at this time.”
Henry Allmand, CEO at Heart of Bucks, added: “After what has been an incredibly challenging period for the not for profit sector, we are confident that this Fund will be warmly welcomed by a range of charities, allowing Buckinghamshire Building Society to make a very real difference in the community. We are thrilled to be working with Buckinghamshire Building Society on this initiative.”