A grant of £4,800 from Kent Community Foundation will be used by Swale Community and Voluntary Services to fund initiatives including their popular film club
Swale Community and Voluntary Services (Swale CVS) has been running a transport and befriending service for older people in the local community for over twenty years. They have been supported by Kent Community Foundation since 2010 and a recent grant of £4,800 will be used to fund some of their social clubs for older people, including the film club.
Louise Johnson, Befriending Coordinator, Swale Community and Voluntary Services, said, “Our befriending service supports people aged between 60 and 94 in Sittingbourne, Faversham, and The Isle of Sheppey and our monthly film club is a very popular event. The club gives our clients the opportunity to enjoy coffee, cake, a film, and a chat and really helps to prevent them feeling isolated. All our clients are brought to the club by our volunteer drivers, and they have recently enjoyed films including Emma, Colette, and the Lady in the Van. Without Kent Community Foundation’s financial support to pay for transport, DVDs, and a film licence we would not be able to offer this club and we cannot thank them enough for all the support they have given us over the years.”
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation, said, “Awarding grants to organisations helping to prevent isolation amongst the elderly is one of our funding priorities. In 2020 there were 330,000 over 65s in the county and during the colder winter months, we focus on raising awareness of the issues they face with our Surviving Winter Campaign. Swale CVS is doing sterling work by offering not only a film club, but other vital resources that we fund including a lunch club and a games club, and we know how much their clients benefit from this support.”
To find out more about the Swale CVS Film club visit www.swalecvs.org.uk/befriending/befriending-service
For more information about the Kent Community Foundation Surviving Winter Campaign visit www.kentcf.org.uk/give/surviving-winter
Notes to Editors
Source www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/60492/The-Kent-situation-commissioning.pdf
About Swale Community and Voluntary Services
Swale Community and Voluntary Services (Swale CVS) has operated a transport and befriending scheme for over twenty years which primarily benefits older people.
About the Surviving Winter Campaign
The Kent Community Foundation Surviving Winter Campaign asks those, who are able, to donate their Winter Fuel Payment, or whatever they can, to help older people across Kent and Medway.
If just 10% of everyone in the county, who receives the Winter Fuel Payment, was to donate £100 to the Surviving Winter Campaign, we would have a Fund of more than £3 million to help our vulnerable elderly neighbours across the county.
Donations can be made online at www.kentcf.org.uk/give/surviving-winter or by cheque to Kent Community Foundation (FAO Susan Blay and clearly marked on the back for the Surviving Winter Campaign with your name and address). Please post to Kent Community Foundation, Evegate Park Barn, Evegate Business Park, Ashford, Kent, TN25 6SX.
About Kent Community Foundation
Grant-maker Kent Community Foundation has been finding, funding, and supporting some of the smallest voluntary organisations in the county for twenty years. In this time, it has distributed over £45 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
They are part of a UK wide accredited network of forty-seven Community Foundations who are committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help.
Responsible for more than eighty philanthropic funds, Kent Community Foundation is unrivalled in its knowledge of local causes and assists individuals, families, and businesses, who want to help, to establish and administer their own charitable funds.
