Northampton women and girls projects share £3.4 million of national funding

Baby Basics Northampton relies on the generosity of the community to donate items, including gift sets for mum and newborn essentials, which they pack in Moses baskets and gift to mums in need in Northamptonshire.

Small charities and community groups have received grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 from the Tampon Tax Community Fund to work with women of all ages, focusing on preventative services for those at risk of crisis.

Projects receiving funding will help women and girls get into or back to work, improve health and well being and develop social networks.

As one of the UK’s largest grant-giving organisations, UK Community Foundations was asked by the Government to distribute the largest share of the funding raised through the levy on sanitary products in 2017/18 to small, local projects, working with its network of community foundations across the country.

The charity is in need of 0-3 months baby grows, adult and baby toothbrushes and toothpaste, chocolates for mums, cotton wool, shampoo, shower gel and conditioner.

Rachel McGrath, deputy CEO of Northamptonshire Community Foundation, said: “We are delighted to have worked on this fund to enable local grassroots groups to do targeted work in supporting women and girls.

"The quality and standard of applications was very high but, unfortunately, our women-led grants panel had to make some tough decisions as the fund was heavily over-subscribed.

"We look forward to providing groups with another opportunity to apply again in the new financial year.”

The projects to be funded through Northamptonshire Community Foundation across Northamptonshire are:

Baby Basics Northampton – to provide family support provisions to new, vulnerable mums within Northamptonshire.

Relate Northamptonshire – to work with women to offer emotional well being and mental health counselling.

Northamptonshire Rape Crisis – to provide well-being support for women recovering from sexual violence.

Northamptonshire Parent Infant Project (NORPIP) – to provide a support group for new young mum’s and new young mum’s to be.

Only a quarter of the 1,500 applications for vital women and girls projects could be supported from this stream of funding.

Community foundations are independent charities that make grants to support grassroots groups, which work with businesses, funders and the Government to create tailored programmes of grant-making that respond to the needs and assets of communities.

To find out more about the fantastic work of NCF visit www.ncf.uk.com or call 01604 230033.