Suffolk’s response to the coronavirus emergency appeal started March 2020.
Find out more below …
Money raised so far
direct offers of support to those in need in Suffolk
560 grants awarded to Suffolk charities and community groups totalling over £2.6M
Find out more about some of them here >>
Singing superstar Ed Sheeran has made a founding gift to launch Suffolk Community Foundation’s ‘Rebuilding Local Lives Appeal’.
The Community Foundation’s new appeal sees BBC Radio Suffolk adding their support to The Suffolk Coronavirus Community partnership in Suffolk, which already includes the National Emergencies Trust (NET), East Anglian Daily Times, Community Action Suffolk, Suffolk Association of Local Councils, Suffolk County Council, District and Boroughs Councils and all those involved in Suffolk’s ‘Home But Not Alone’ initiative. It is hoped that the Rebuilding Local Lives Appeal will deliver more local giving to the Suffolk Coronavirus Community Fund, which has been created and delivered by the Foundation. The founding gift from Ed Sheeran moves everything a big step towards ‘Team Suffolk’ breaking through the fund’s £2M fundraising target.
We were so excited and grateful to receive this support from Ed; he has been so generous to our County in so many ways. The timing of the announcement of his wonderful gift – as we enter the ‘Suffolk Day Weekender’ – has provided a great reason for everyone to celebrate. Ed’s visibility as a supporter will really boost to our ability to raise awareness of the fund and this new appeal, and now we can inspire even more people to support Suffolk charities and community groups to get Suffolk lives back on track as we come out of lockdown.
If your donation is larger than £250, please help us to maximise this gift by contacting us directly on 01473 786911.
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The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which began in December 2019, is now presenting a significant threat to the people of Suffolk.
The Suffolk Coronavirus Community Fund was launched by Suffolk Community Foundation in partnership with the National Emergencies Trust and supported by leading Suffolk organisations including Community Action Suffolk, Suffolk Association of Local Councils, East Anglian Daily Times, Suffolk County Council, District and Borough Councils and all those involved in Suffolk’s ‘Home But Not Alone’ initiative, to help fight the impact of coronavirus on vulnerable people in the county.
How money raised goes to support Suffolk…
Children & Families
Compassion in crisis
Anyone can find themselves facing a critical situation where they will need help quickly. Charities and community groups play an essential role in helping…
Education, Learning & Life Skills
Health & Wellbeing
Older people
Thriving & Safe Communities
Suffolk has responded to this crisis with compassion, stoicism and resilience. In spite of the sadness and difficulty, I am hearing so many stories of kindness, with communities coming together across the County to support the vulnerable and lonely.
Our great charities are working all hours to provide desperately needed aid to those in need. Now they need our help in this darkest hour. The marvellous news is that BBC Suffolk is joining Suffolk Community Foundation, The East Anglian Daily Times, ‘Home But Not Alone’ partners and local media right across Suffolk to launch this central fundraising appeal for the benefit of all, no matter what challenge they are facing. I’m sure this will prove to be an inspiration to us all.
The experience of the impact of coronavirus in Suffolk has brought home once again the levels of poverty and need so many people are facing, in our towns and our villages. This fund will help us together to respond to this challenge, now made so much greater by the pandemic, and care for those in greatest need.
The generosity of Suffolk people is just one of the things that makes Suffolk so special and this is coming through loud and clear in the success of the Rebuilding Local Lives Appeal. I would like to thank Suffolk Community Foundation for galvanising the support of the county to help those in need during this time. This pandemic has affected everyone but the more vulnerable in our communities are feeling the impact more desperately than most and I hope those that can, continue to support this appeal to help rebuild local lives so that we all come out of this terrible time stronger.”
The pandemic has had a profound impact on our communities. We are proud to support Suffolk Community Foundation’s Rebuilding Local Lives appeal, which will reach the most vulnerable in our county and give them vital support. For those wishing to donate towards the appeal we invite them to call into any Ipswich Building Society branch to make their donation.
In my role I’ve been able to talk with many charities about how they handling today and planning for the very difficult months and even years ahead. We need resources to support our voluntary sector to be able to equip people impacted to move forward with their lives. The new fund will help hugely with this and I hope we can all find a way to contribute to it. It’s not going to easy but I have confidence that we will pull together to get through this.
The work that Suffolk Community Foundation does to support the vulnerable and local charities has always been outstanding but now, more than ever, the role they play is vitally important and significant within the county. Thank you for all those that lend their support and Suffolk Constabulary looks forward to continuing to work closely with them.
Our Town and Parish Councils are doing all they can to address the immediate needs of their community at this time of national crisis. Many will have already been supported by our local voluntary organisations to achieve this. We need to continue to support them and each other, with more visible issues like emergency food provision and helping to support the lonely and isolated as they spend the coming weeks alone at home. The Suffolk Coronavirus Community Fund has been set up to enable Suffolk people to give centrally to support local charities and community groups. Together we can give to help local people facing these issues and perhaps some of the more hidden challenges like domestic violence, addiction, family crisis and bereavement. Please do support this fund if you are able to do so.
Suffolk Day is always special for our County, but I’m so delighted that this year we are not only going to celebrate and thank the wonderful people of Suffolk for all the great things that they do, but also launch a new way to really help our most vulnerable at this difficult time. Today’s launch of Suffolk Community Foundation’s Rebuilding Local Lives Appeal has also been made all the more exciting and impactful because the founding donation has come from our biggest star of today. Thank you so much to Ed Sheeran for his wonderful generosity and for all the awareness his gift will bring. All the best to everyone in Suffolk as we all step up to support the Rebuilding Local Lives Appeal in any and every way we can. Thank you Suffolk!
Where does the money go?
Hover over the map to find out more about how the fund has supported the fantastic work of local charities in the midst of the pandemic.
Click on the headshots below to find out more about how your support can help…
Shayra Begum
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Mrs Shayra Begum
BSC Multicultural Services
Simon Glenister
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Simon Glenister
Chief Executive, Noise Solution CIC
Tom Brown
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Tom Brown
Chief Executive, Green Light Trust
Ann Allen
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Ann Allen
Client Relationship Manager, Reach Community Projects
Jim Manning
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Jim Manning
Ann Osborn
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Ann osborn
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Patron of The National Emergencies Trust
Who the funds supports
Money raised will support charity groups and community organisations throughout Suffolk, to reach the most vulnerable during this pandemic.
This is a rapidly developing situation, and as a result, the focus of the fund will continue to evolve in line with the support required. The fund will currently support;
- Groups that support the ongoing needs of vulnerable people to ensure that their health and wellbeing is maintained
- Groups and activities that support vulnerable people self-isolating (the elderly, people with pre-existing medical conditions etc
- Support for foodbanks and organisations working to combat hardship caused by the pandemic including child hunger
- Community response coordination
- Volunteer costs for new and existing organisations responding to the effect of the pandemic
- Additional costs of working remotely and adapting services delivered in the wider community
- Additional support as required for emotional support, mental health and bereavement support
Coronavirus Community Fund Grants awarded
Details of all Emergency funding awarded from the Suffolk Coronavirus Community Fund are available to download here.
Suffolk Community Foundation is committed to transparency and we work with 360Giving to publish information about our grants. If you would like to find out more about the wide range of projects the Foundation supports, you can find a full list detailing all grants awarded at 360Giving > https://grantnav.threesixtygiving.org/funder/GB-CHC-1109453
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This means the data is freely accessible to anyone to be used and shared as they wish. The data must be attributed to Suffolk Community Foundation.
We believe that with better information, grantmakers can be more effective and strategic decision-makers. 360Giving provides support for grantmakers to publish their grants data openly, to understand their data, and to use the data to create online tools that make grant-making more effective.
For more information, visit http://www.threesixtygiving.org/
As in previous years, the appeal will support older and vulnerable people in Suffolk to stay warm in their homes
We will also ask individuals about their health and wellbeing, living conditions and isolation, and connect them to people that can help.
A grants programme will offer financial support to charities, Neighbourhood Schemes and community groups to increase their support of vulnerable people this winter.
Donate by cheque or in person
Please donate via cheque payable to
Suffolk Community Foundation,
The Old Barns
Peninsula Business Centre
Wherstead
Ipswich
IP9 2BB
or head into any branch of Ipswich Building Society to donate in person.
If you need support…
As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to have a profound impact on all our lives, we perhaps have a greater empathy than ever before of what it is to feel vulnerable, lonely or isolated.
At this time of year, for the team at the Foundation and all our annual Surviving Winter Appeal partners and existing donors, thoughts inevitably turn to the coming months and the impact that shorter days and colder nights may have on the health and wellbeing, particularly of vulnerable older people and others experiencing deprivation or serious issues affecting their physical or mental health.
With winter almost upon us, Suffolk is bracing itself for a dramatic increase in need. Last year our annual Surviving Winter Appeal raised enough money to heat over 1000 homes and connected many hundreds of people to other services to help tackle isolation, address physical and mental health challenges, improve poor living conditions, solve debt problems and assist with access to services to help them stay safe and well.
Suffolk has responded to this crisis with compassion, stoicism and resilience. In spite of the sadness and difficulty, I am hearing so many stories of kindness, with communities coming together across the County to support the vulnerable and lonely.
Keeping older vulnerable people warm and physically well in their own homes is so important and saves lives. The Rural Coffee Caravan Information Project is delighted to be joining the Surviving Winter team again this year. Whilst we all aim to keep people warm in their homes, we also need to make sure that they stay connected and don’t suffer loneliness and isolation.
This appeal is vital as it will provide much needed financial support directly to vulnerable individuals and the charities and community groups who support them. Suffolk is well known as ‘The Caring County’ and we hope our community will step up and give generously in support of vulnerable local people this winter.
There are three key things that we can all do to save lives and support our NHS this winter. The first it to stay safe at home where possible, the second is to offer our support to our immediate neighbours and local communities if we are able to, and the third is to support our hundreds, or indeed thousands of local charities and community groups here in Suffolk.
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