Creating Healthier Communities: The Impact of the Beckett Health & Wellbeing Fund

As an East Anglian based business offering financial advice from offices based in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Norwich, Beckett Investment Management Group wanted to set up a charitable fund to support local communities. In December 2023 the Beckett Health & Wellbeing Fund was launched. Its mission was to improve health and wellbeing across Suffolk, and this fund has already made an extraordinary impact: awarding £24,000 to 13 charities in just one year.

The fund was set up by Beckett Investment Management Group (BIMG) and is managed by Suffolk Community Foundation.  The team at BIMG has taken on a variety of fundraising activities such as bake sales, sporting events and profits from a very successful tuck shop! Thanks to their efforts, grants have been made supporting a wide range of the local charities across the county.

Suffolk Community Foundation (SCF) provides grants to help charities and community organisations which support local people facing disadvantage to make a real difference to their lives. A great deal of this support comes from local businesses just like BIMG which set up funds with specific aims in mind. Setting up a Fund with SCF offers businesses flexibility and control with protections in place to ensure that money is spent ethically and that their generosity makes the biggest difference.

How the Fund is Making a Difference

From supporting stroke survivors to helping families of children living with cancer, the Fund is transforming lives. Here are just a few examples:

Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS)

The fund recently awarded £2,000 to SARS. This funding will support SARS’ core costs and allow their expansion of team resources. SARS provides specialist clinicians to assist the East of England Ambulance Service at the scenes of incidents where patients require an enhanced level of medical care before they reach hospital. This lifesaving service, which receives no statutory funding, plays a vital role in supporting critical incidents in Suffolk.

Aoife’s Bubbles Charity – The Bubble Hub

£2,000 was awarded to Aoife’s Bubbles Charity.  This family-run charity with lived experience, is the UK’s only registered childhood germ cell cancer charity. Its mission is to raise awareness and educate the public about the symptoms, diagnosis, and impact of this disease.

The funding will support the delivery of the ‘The Bubble Hub’ monthly therapeutic sessions for children affected by cancer and their families. The project will provide a consistent, nurturing space that encourages emotional expression, social connection, and healing through creative and therapeutic activities.

Hope After Suicide Loss (HOPE)

HOPE also received a vital £2,000 from the fund to enable it to continue its range of services for those bereaved by suicide in Suffolk. HOPE currently offer face to face group support sessions in Lowestoft, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.

Second Chance Stroke

Second Chance Stroke provides group support to stroke survivors who feel isolated in the community and wish to improve their well-being. The group meets every Tuesday in Great Barton Village Hall. The charity was pleased to have received £2,000 towards specialist transport costs for stroke survivors to be able to access the organisations’ various support services. [Image: Beckett Investment Management Group visit to Second Chance Stroke]

A word from Beckett Investment Management Group

Ian White, Executive Chair, Beckett Investment Management Group, said: “We created our Health & Wellbeing Fund to draw on Suffolk Community Foundation’s expertise in identifying charities—both large and small—that are meeting genuine needs across the county. Each year, we make around ten donations of £2,000, targeting organisations where this contribution will have a meaningful impact.

Many companies support local charities, but working with the Foundation gives the Beckett team confidence that our donations reach well-run organisations addressing specific needs.

The Foundation also takes the guesswork out of choosing who to support—and best of all, every member of the Beckett team has the chance to get involved in deciding where our donations go.”

On behalf of the charities supported by the Fund, the team at Suffolk Community Foundation would like to thank Beckett Investment Management Group for all its incredible support.

Feeling inspired?

You can create lasting change too. Setting up a fund is simpler than you think—and we’re here to help.

Fran Wright, Philanthropy Manager: [email protected]

Lucy Pembroke, Campaigns Manager: [email protected]