Hello
I’m Peter Cluff, Chairman of Guildford Philanthropy and this is the fourth instalment of my blog, a place to keep you up-to-date on everything we are doing and will be doing to help and transform the lives of those in need in our special borough.
Since my last blog, we have made a lot of good progress and there is a lot of exciting things on the horizon.
In May, I attended and cut the ribbon at the opening of The Matrix Trust’s social enterprise café, The Hideaway, which we funded. The Matrix Trust helps disadvantaged and vulnerable children in the borough, and The Hideaway Café will raise money to fund activities for these young people. Located in the heart of Guildford, in the Allen House Pavilion, The Hideaway offers the perfect place to socialise and enjoy tea, coffee and maybe even a piece of cake. I would highly recommend a visit.
We received the Mayor of Guildford’s Community Heroes Award for our work throughout the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. We supported Guildford residents by working with Foodwise TLC, helping them to provide over 30,000 cooked meals for over 300 vulnerable families. We also gave 14 grants totalling over £141,000 and supported a number of local charities. You can read more about our work over the pandemic here.
One of these grants went to the Big Leaf Foundation’s Equine Therapy Project to help the mental wellbeing of their refugees. One young man, who grew up with horses and represented his country at Eventing, had to flee his home due to racial persecution. When he arrived in the UK, he missed his horses so much that he couldn’t focus on anything else. His Refugee Council therapist contacted the Big Leaf Foundation in desperation, trying to find a way to help him further, and since arriving at riding school his smile has returned. The most wonderful thing is that the stables have now offered him a voluntary work experience position at weekends.
Thank you to our Corporate Ambassadors for their annual donations, the Guildford Community Lottery and anyone else who has sent us donations. All donations are match funded by Guildford Borough Council.
We spoke with Microsoft to explain the problems experienced by some local school children in Guildford, and they agreed to supply 50 laptops which we donated to Kings College and Guildford Grove School. This follows the 50 laptops donated to Kings College earlier this year, which were provided for us by our Corporate Ambassadors Unigold 2000 Ltd. You can read more here.
Coming up, we have the Guildford Jazz Festival which is being held in the award-winning Guildford Castle grounds on Saturday 11 September. Popular jazz supergroup Picante will be playing music inspired by Buena Vista Social Club and the Gipsy Kings. Gates open at 4pm with live music from 5pm – 7pm. Tickets cost £17 (£15 for Guildford Jazz Members) and can be bought here. All money raised will help us to continue our work to help disadvantaged members of our local community.
We are always looking for new Corporate Ambassadors. If you are a local business you can find out more on becoming a Guildford Philanthropy Corporate Ambassador here.
