A £5,000 grant from Kent Community Foundation will enable The Princess Project to expand its services into Tonbridge.
The Princess Project has been successfully working with and supporting disadvantaged mums and their families in Kent for the last 11 years. A Kent Community Foundation grant of £5,000 will enable them to help more mums by establishing a new hub in Tonbridge, to complement their existing services in Maidstone town centre, Park Wood and Gillingham.
The new Tonbridge hub will provide a safe, welcoming space where vulnerable mothers who are experiencing challenges, will find support and community and be signposted to other resources. The hubs give disadvantaged mums an opportunity to get out and meet other people and interact over free drinks and snacks with members of the volunteer team and other mums to build their networks. At the hubs, the mums have access to, a Totcycle service, which is a bank of good quality second hand baby and toddler clothing, toys, books, and equipment which are available without charge and a Mum2Mum befriending service which provides consistent, long term one to one support for isolated young mums aged 16-30, by matching them with trained volunteers.
Emma Tanner, Founder and CEO, The Princess Project said, “We are very grateful to Kent Community Foundation for their grant to allow us to open a new hub in Tonbridge. Social isolation amongst mothers is a huge problem and many of the families we meet are experiencing severe financial hardship, which compounds the situation. Our hubs give mums the opportunity to meet regularly in a safe space, make new friends, learn about other resources that are available to help them and access free second hand baby and toddler clothing, toys, books, and equipment, making a real difference to their lives.”
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation said, “The Princess Project has been working with disadvantaged mums and their families in Kent for the last 11 years. The Needs Analysis we commissioned last year demonstrates that although Tonbridge and Malling is perceived as an affluent area there are pockets of relative deprivation within the district that contrast starkly with more affluent neighbourhoods. This project fits perfectly into one of the five Kent Community Foundation funding priorities, ‘children, young people and families’, and we were very happy to support their application for a grant to extend their resources into Tonbridge.”
To contact Kent Community Foundation about funding for charities and community groups call 01303 814500, email admin@kentcf.org.uk or visit www.kentcf.org.uk/funding
Notes to Editors
The Kent Community Foundation Needs Analysis can be read here https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/graphickat/needs-analysis-2022-flip?pid=MjU250116&p=35&v=4.1
About The Princess Project
The Maidstone town centre hub is held at the United Reformed Church Hall and is open every Friday morning during term-time.
The Park Wood hub is held in Christ Church on Wallis Avenue and is open on Wednesday mornings.
The Gillingham Hub is held at St Augustine’s Church and is open Monday mornings during term-time.
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 over twenty years. In this time, it has distributed over £55 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 ninety 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.
