Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella has received £5,000 from Kent Community Foundation to cover some of the associated costs of keeping their vital service in the heart of Kent open.
Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella has been supporting elderly, vulnerable, disadvantaged, and disengaged members of the local community for 31 years and although they aim to keep costs to a minimum, providing this essential service is costly.
With the money from a previous three-year core costs grant from Kent Community Foundation already allocated, the charity asked for additional funding to help to pay their staff salaries, venue hire, door to door transport service, outings, IT, and administration costs.
Eddie Chambers, Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella said, “The £5,000 grant from Kent Community Foundation will allow us to continue providing a safe space supporting between sixty and seventy regular service users. We help our service users with many varied needs, including combating loneliness and social disengagement, supporting independent living through advice and signposting sources of financial and personal help, and enhancing mental health and wellbeing, through social interaction, volunteering, and a wide range of user lead activities. This funding is essential for us to continue to provide this service and we are very grateful to Kent Community Foundation for their ongoing support.”
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation, said, “Mental health is one of our five key funding priorities and we have been supporting Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella since 2017 with grants totalling over £111,000. At our Needs in Kent Conference on 15 June we explored the emerging issues facing the county after the pandemic and it is not surprising that mental health formed a major part of the conversation amongst our 200 delegates. We expected that the detailed report we commissioned about the needs in each district might result in a buzz about mental health and it certainly was high on everyone’s agenda.”
To find out more about Kent Community Foundation visit www.kentcf.org.uk
About Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella
Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella was created to help post-hospital care patients, especially those with mental health problems, adjust to life in the community.
Contact 07788724325 or email echam23@hotmail.co.uk
www.ashford-tenterden-umbrella.co.uk
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 £50 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.
