The Didcot Powerhouse Fund has confirmed that in its second year of grant-giving, it has been able to make grants totalling £80,000 to 18 organisations, ranging from £400 to £10,000.
Launched in November 2021 by local people to raise funds to support the local community, The Didcot Powerhouse Fund has already made a significant impact, with 17 charities receiving grants in 2022. Powerhouse is about empowering local communities and at least 90% of the beneficiaries of any Powerhouse grants must live in Didcot and the Area of Influence of Didcot Garden Town, including villages such as Culham, Steventon, Milton, and Harwell. The theme for grants in 2023 is ‘Mental health and wellbeing in these times of hardship’.
Many grants this year are for projects focused on supporting mental health across the community. This includes two grants to support mental health for men, a grant to provide mental health first aid training for charities, and therapy for Afghan refugees in Milton experiencing complex trauma. Continuing our focus on children and young people in 2022 there are grants supporting counselling for young people, mindfulness training for young carers in primary schools, and grants for projects supporting new parents and parent-infant therapy. Supporting wellbeing takes many forms. One grant is to provide period boxes for those on low incomes, while other grants are for projects that enhance the wellbeing of those with learning disabilities, older people with visual impairment, or those trying to find employment, as well as grants encouraging the wellbeing of young people through exercise and outdoor activities.
Elizabeth Paris, Chair and Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire said: “The volume and quality of grant applications Powerhouse received was extraordinary, giving the Grants Panel an incredibly difficult task in deciding how to allocate funds. The Panel are so pleased to be able to award grants to new charities this year as well as to award grants that sustain and enhance the projects launched in 2022. The applications highlighted the incredible work that so many local people, volunteers as well as charities, are doing to support the local community. The Fund received a total of 25 applications, requesting a total of £146,000 in grants, and I also want the applicants that did not receive a grant this year to know that they too are playing a vital role.
Our Patron Lord Vaizey of Didcot said: “I am so proud of all the great charities in and around Didcot and right now they deserve our support more than ever. The grants made by The Didcot Powerhouse Fund in 2022 have already had a significant impact on our communities and I am delighted that Powerhouse is able to make these new grants in 2023. It is so powerful to see local businesses and local people supporting their local communities in this way”.
David Johnston MP for Wantage and Didcot said: “I am so pleased to see so many worthwhile organisations being awarded grants by Didcot Powerhouse. Mental health is such an important area to support, and we have great organisations supporting local people who will benefit a lot from the money they are about to receive. I’m delighted Didcot Powerhouse continues to go from strength to strength and has already established itself as a key pillar of the charitable community in the town.”
