News from Suffolk 100 – A giving circle that is at our core!

Suffolk 100 is a giving circle where members give an annual donation to help us to respond to local need, and support charities that are helping people in Suffolk. It is vital for our core funding and enables us to develop new areas of work. 

2025 Suffolk 100 Annual Event 

Earlier in the month we hosted our Annual Suffolk 100 event held at the Burnt House Vineyard. It was a very special evening, which gave us an opportunity to catch up with Suffolk 100 members and thank them for their support which really does make a difference to us as an organisation. Funds raised by Suffolk 100 allows us to be resilient and adapt quickly to local need. We were also thrilled to welcome new guests to the event who were interested in learning more about us as a Foundation and Suffolk 100. 

Our Chief Executive, Hannah Bloom, was able to outline our future not least our new strategy which puts an emphasis on making it easier for charities to apply for money. Hannah also talked about our commitment to advocate for local charities and community groups, highlighting the recent State of the Sector report which showed that between 2022 and 2023 Suffolk charity income rose by £6.5 million however their expenditure has also increased dis-proportionality by £48.5 million.  Just like other charities our inflation has increased our core costs which is why Suffolk 100 is so pivotal for us.  

Despite the challenges, Hannah explained that there is so much to look forward to at the Foundation. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary we opened a very special new fund. Suffolk Futures raises funds for grants awarded to 16–25-year-olds who need additional support due to a number of reasons. We are thrilled that we have already reached our target to raised £200,000.  

With a full compliment of staff including two new directors and a highly experience philanthropy team, Hannah explained that the future of the Foundation is looking bright. We are also making improvements to our internal systems and technology such as our CRM system. This will all make a positive difference to those we can support and the experience of our donors who kindly enable us to do what we do.  

We also heard from Richard Cooper who is a Suffolk 100 member and long-time supporter of the Foundation. Richard explained that “In its 20th year, the Foundation is as vibrant, dynamic and motivated as I have ever seen it.”  

Richard could also speak firsthand about what being a member of Suffolk 100 means to us “As a Son of Suffolk this is part of the reason why I am so passionate about Suffolk Community Foundation – for me, it is a chance to be involved with some highly targeted grant making in Suffolk in areas of real need. And we shouldn’t get too down about all the difficult issues that surround us because whilst we address those, we are also creating opportunities  – particularly for young people in this 20th Anniversary year.” 

Not only was the evening a chance for guests to find out more about the difference their support makes to us and communities in Suffolk it was also a lot of fun. We were treated to a tour of the Burnt House Vineyard and wine tasting. The beautiful surroundings and the sunshine made for an ideal evening. 

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us on the evening, we were delighted with the engagement. A special thank you must also go to Brewin Dolphin and Birketts LLP who very kindly sponsored the evening. 

“What a fabulous evening you gave the current and potential Suffolk 100 members on Thursday. I can’t remember any event of that nature where people were having such a glorious time that they were reluctant to leave!” Suffolk 100 member 

Suffolk 100 Project visits 

It is important to us to ensure that our Suffolk 100 members get the opportunity to see firsthand the difference their support makes to the charities we are able to support. 

For this reason, we were pleased to invite Suffolk 100 members to join us in visiting a variety of local projects earlier in the Spring. We always find projects visits an inspiring experience, sometimes it is hard to comprehend the importance of the work these charities are doing without seeing it firsthand.  

In March we visited the Pear Tree Fund and Home For Good, both very different projects but each doing incredible work. The Pear Tree Fund offers support and information to those with life limiting illnesses. Home for Good aims to ensure that every child looking for a home find ones. They bring together churches, networks and communities to help find those who may foster or adopt vulnerable children. Our visit was to a play visit for adopters.  

At the start of May we visited The Freedom Church SEND Café and Epic Dads. Freedom Church offers weekly cafe session with activities for individuals who have special educational needs and disabilities. Those who attended the SEND café were impressed by what they had to offer including Tori Dexter who visited Freedom Church on behalf of the Chestnut Group.  

‘Chestnut are proud supporters of Suffolk 100 and the ‘seeing is believing’ visits are a great way of learning about the positive impact the donations are having in our local communities. I really enjoyed meeting everyone involved in The Freedom church Send Café and seeing firsthand how the grant has helped them to enhance their super community hub” Tori Dexter, Head of Communications and Community Impact 

Our most recent visit was to Epic Dads who offer support to fathers. We visited their Dad and Children’s Club which was fun packed day of activities and games offer fathers support and companionship.  

We feel these visits were a good example of the breadth and reach of the projects who are supported by your generosity. Thank you to all who joined us.  

A Suffolk 100 member who joined us for two visits had this to say following his experience.  

“I am delighted that Suffolk Community Foundation is dramatically raising the profile of the Suffolk 100 group and putting in place charity visits. The Suffolk 100 donors are some of the Foundation’s best ambassadors and to be able to see at firsthand how the Foundation works to support charities and voluntary groups, often working in some challenging environments, is a real eye-opener. I have been lucky enough to make two Suffolk 100 visits this spring and in both cases the gratitude of the groups that have been supported was uplifting – relatively small amounts of funding can have a huge beneficial impact for some of these small organisations operating in difficult areas. Equally uplifting is the very clear dedication and devotion of the staff of the supported charities – an arm put around a struggling client says it all! 

I know that there are other visits being planned later in the year for Suffolk 100 members and I really encourage those of you that haven’t yet been able to join these visits to come along – it can, at one and the same time, be a sobering and uplifting experience.” 

We will be planning further visits in the autumn for our members which we are sure will be equally inspiring. 

If you would like to find out more about the work of Suffolk 100 please visit www.suffolkcf.org.uk/giving-and-philanthropy/give-together/suffolk-100/ or contact our Philanthropy Manager Fran Wright at [email protected] or 01473 944 732.