DCF and Longleigh Foundation Partner Up to Support Dorset Young People

Dorset Community Foundation is delighted to announce a joint-funding partnership with national grant-giving charity Longleigh Foundation to support local young people.

The two charities have set up the Longleigh Foundation Fund for Poole, Bournemouth and Purbeck to fund community projects aimed at helping young people in some of Dorset’s most deprived communities make a positive impact on their local neighbourhoods.

DCF and Longleigh Foundation Partner Up to Support Dorset Young People

Posted on 20th September 201720th September 2017 by Grant Robson

Jon Yates, Chief Executive at the Dorset Community Foundation explained: ‘We are very pleased to announce this exciting new partnership with the Longleigh Foundation. Together we can help address important local issues here in Dorset. Young people are the future of this wonderful county and by supporting their involvement in projects such as campaigning, fundraising and volunteering we are helping nurture thriving communities for years to come.’

The Longleigh Foundation Fund for Poole, Bournemouth and Purbeck will distribute £25,000 via the Youth Social Action funding programme, which the Dorset Community Foundation manages on behalf of The Big Lottery and the Office for Civil Society. The fund has been developed as part of the #iwill campaign, which aims to increase youth volunteering and social action by 50% by 2020.

Longleigh Foundation is a new charity set up this year by national social housing provider Stonewater with a £1 million endowment for funding projects which help young people, the elderly, women in crisis due to domestic abuse, and residents with physical or mental disabilities. The new dedicated Longleigh Foundation Fund for Poole, Bournemouth and Purbeck will also support youth projects for young people living in Stonewater housing developments in Dorset.

‘We are absolutely delighted to be working with DCF and to be supporting housing communities in Dorset where many Stonewater residents live‘, says Sue Terry, Chair of Longleigh Foundation. ‘Strategic partnerships for projects such as this enable us to improve the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged members of our society‘.

Christchurch Activities for Young People was one of the groups previously supported by the Youth Social Action programme. DCF awarded a grant to enable them to deliver a volunteering project for young people living in the Somerford estate – one of the most deprived areas in Dorset. The project will equip young people participating with valuable skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership and organisation skills.

The fund is currently open for applications and will close at noon on 28th September. For more details, please click here.