In 2021 the Hall & Woodhouse Community Chest celebrated their 20th year with 2 awards evenings, one held on 1st October in the Brewery Tap, Blandford and one held on 7th October in the Goffs Manor, Crawley.
The annual awards are an initiative created by Mark Woodhouse, Family Director of Hall & Woodhouse (H&W), with the ambition to enrich its communities by improving both the facilities and the lives of local people in the form of providing cash grants to local voluntary groups and charities that require financial support.
£50,000 was awarded to 42 worthy local causes from across the H&W trading area of the south of England. Over 450 applications were received seeking grants totalling over £1,100,000 during the application period from March to May.
The Community Chest has now awarded over £717,000 to 862 charity and community groups since it held its first awards in 2002.
The largest award of £2,500 went to Littlehampton Shopmobility in West Sussex. This is a charity which provides a hire service to disabled and those temporarily disabled. Their fundraising had been severely curtailed due to Covid and funding cutbacks. So, they will be using their grant to make up the shortfall in their running costs.
Another significant award of £2000 went to the Vale Pantry in Sturminster Newton, Dorset. The Pantry is currently supporting over 200 families each week and they will be using their funding to cover their food shortfall costs each week.
MYTIME Young Carers in Dorset has also benefited from an award of £2000. They will be using their grant to fund an Employability Programme to support young adult carers into further education, training and employment.
Lucinda Gray, Company Relationship Manager of Hall & Woodhouse, said: “We are delighted that the H&W Community Chest Awards was able to celebrate its 20th year in person with the 42 charities that we know will put their share of the £50,000 fund to good use”. “In 2020 we had to hold our awards virtually, which is just not the same as being able to celebrate over a beer in a pub. “It was also an opportunity to hear first-hand from the charities we were supporting just how grateful they were for our financial help to enable their recovery plans, after being severely impacted by the pandemic. “The charities we support tend to be small, volunteer led and can find it hard to access funding for things like running costs.
“The awards winners also enjoyed hearing from our guest speaker Richard Curtis BEM, general manager at the Portsmouth Arms, Basingstoke. Richard talked about what inspired his incredible fundraising efforts since the start of the first lockdown, resulting in him raising over £70,000 and being recognised in the New Year’s Honors list.
| Charity | Amount of Award |
|---|---|
| 1) 1st Beaminster Scout Group (Beaminster, Dorset) | £500 |
| 2) Beehive Community Complex (Honiton, Devon) | £800 |
| 3) Bridport and District Citizens Advice (Bridport, Dorset) | £1000 |
| 4) Burgess Hill Shed (Burgess Hill, West Sussex) | £1666 |
| 5) Chichester Boys Club (Chichester, West Sussex) | £1500 |
| 6) Chichester Down Syndrowne Support Group (Chichester, West Sussex) | £1000 |
| 7) Christchurch and District Concert Band (Christchurch, Dorset) | £800 |
| 8) Crowthorne HopeZone (Crowthorne, Berkshire) | £1000 |
| 9) Defiant Sports (Eastbourne, East Sussex) | £1500 |
| 10) Dementia Friendly Gillingham (Gillingham, Dorset) | £1500 |
| 11) Dorset Nightstop (Ferndown, Dorset) | £1000 |
| 12) Dressability (Swindon, Wiltshire) | £500 |
| 13) Fernheath Play (Bournemouth, Dorset) | £800 |
| 14) Forward Facing (Crawley, West Sussex) | £1500 |
| 15) Horsham Debt Advice Service (Horsham, West Sussex) | £1500 |
| 16) In Jolly Good Company (Wimborne, Dorset) | £500 |
| 17) Island Community Action (Portland, Dorset) | £1000 |
| 18) Les Alden Foundation (Worthing, West Sussex) | £1500 |
| 19) Littlehampton Child Contact Centre (Littlehampton, West Sussex) | £500 |
| 20) Littlehampton Shopmobility (Littlehampton, West Sussex) | £2500 |
| 21) Lorica Trust, East Clayton Farm (Washington, West Sussex) | £1438 |
| 22) Man Shed (Portland, Dorset) | £500 |
| 23) Mid Sussex RDA (Brighton, West Sussex) | £1500 |
| 24) MYTIME Young Carers (Poole, Dorset) | £2000 |
| 25) Nature Nurture Sussex (Pease Pottage, West Sussex) | £438 |
| 26) New Forest Bike Project (New Milton, Hampshire) | £1000 |
| 27) ‘On Track’ Wellbeing Event (Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset) | £1000 |
| 28) Pippa’s Group (Lewes, East Sussex) | £569 |
| 29) Poole Sea Cadets (Poole, Dorset) | £1500 |
| 30) Read Easy South Dorset (Portesham, Dorset) | £600 |
| 31) River Bourne Community Farm (Salisbury, Wiltshire) | £1400 |
| 32) Rox Music & Arts (Bognor Regis, West Sussex) | £500 |
| 33) Sussex Prisoners Families (Brighton, East Sussex) | £1500 |
| 34) Teignbridge Canoe Club (Teignmouth, Devon) | £1000 |
| 35) Dad La Soul (Worthing, West Sussex) | £1000 |
| 36) UKHarvest (Chichester, West Sussex) | £1500 |
| 37) Vale Pantry (Sturminster Newton, Dorset) | £2000 |
| 38) Veterans Hub, Weymouth and Portland (Dorset) | £2000 |
| 39) Water Lily Project (Christchurch, Dorset) | £1500 |
| 40) Wimborne Community Food Supply (Wimborne, Dorset) | £1000 |
| 41) Win on Waste (Wimborne, Dorset) | £475 |
| 42) You Raise Me Up (Polegate, East Sussex) | £1000 |
