Community Foundation Fund open

*Please note applications for the 2021 Fund are now closed*

Set up in 2012 by Lendlease and Southwark Council to support the Elephant & Castle community during its regeneration, the London Community Foundation Fund has opened applications for its 2021 community fund.

The £50,000 fund for local projects in Elephant & Castle will provide grants ranging from £500 up to £10,000. The funding is available for projects that will benefit the people who live, work or study in the Elephant & Castle Opportunity Area.

Managed by The London Community Foundation, the fund has donated more than £300,000 to the community over the last eight years.

Lendlease’s Project Director for Elephant Park, Kristy Lansdown, said: “We are committed to creating a thriving, inclusive and sustainable community at Elephant Park, and are pleased to support community projects which directly benefit those who live, work and study in the area. A broad range of projects have already benefited from funding through the scheme and I’m hoping we will be able to help fund some superb local projects this year.”

To be eligible, applicants should demonstrate how this year’s Elephant & Castle funding will address a local need across at least one of five key themes.

• Further Education, Skill Building, Training & Entrepreneurship
• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Young People
• Wellbeing

Applications are open until mid-day on Monday 24^th May 2021.

In 2020, the Elephant & Castle grants were spent on local projects to benefit residents of all ages.

For example, the funds given to Blue Elephant Theatre enabled a series of free interactive storytelling workshops to focus on what local children had missed from being at school or nursery during the Covid-19 pandemic. And, at the other end of the spectrum, community group Blackfriars Settlement used its funding to provide support to elderly residents during lockdown.

Liz Ranger, Director of Services for Blackfriars Settlement, said: “Grant funding has helped us meet the costs of supporting local older people during this very difficult last year. When lockdown started, we switched our services to remote support and the team has been incredibly busy responding to the needs of our members. They’ve been providing regular befriending calls, emergency shopping, meal deliveries, activity packs and online and telephone conferencing group sessions to try and keep them as connected as possible.”

Councillor Alice Macdonald, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities and Neighbourhoods at Southwark Council, said: “Over the last eight years, a diverse range of groups and activities have received funding from this scheme which have delivered real benefits for local residents. We look forward to receiving more applications this year so that community initiatives in Elephant and Castle continue to flourish and grow.”

*Please note applications for the 2021 Fund are now closed*