If you live in the Bradford area, you might have seen coverage in the Telegraph and Argus about applications for the Manjit Wolstenholme fund which is open till the end of the month. Local voluntary organisations can apply to the fund to receive grants from PFG to help them provide critical services to local people.

The fund which was set up in 2019 in memory of Manjit Wolstenholme, former Executive Chair of PFG and the youngest woman to head an investment bank in London who went on to become the first ethnic minority chair of a FTSE 100 company, is open for new applications.

We established this particular fund in partnership with Manjit’s family and Give Bradford to ensure grants are distributed to those who are working with the most disadvantaged young people to provide aspiration and opportunity.

Whilst the panel for this fund will take place in November, we have a number of other community foundation grant panels currently in session. Last week we held our grants panel with London Community Foundation and this week, colleagues have volunteered their time to get together with Kent Community Foundation to discuss applications to our fund from charitable organisations who provide support to disadvantaged individuals and families.

The applications have come from an array of organisations who are delivering crucial services, many of which are meeting challenges resulting from COVID. All the projects are addressing barriers to social and financial inclusion and support our purpose of helping to put people on the path to a better everyday life.  

This round of grant panels comes to a close next week with Community Foundation Wales and news of the organisations who have been funded will be shared from the end of September.

You can read about some of the grants that we made recently via Foundation Scotland here.

“These kinds of Panels are really unique for us because PFG colleagues are involved in the decision making process too. It’s wonderful that colleagues can bring their own personal, and varied experiences to the panel, encouraging healthy discussions.” Bruce Topham, Kent Community Foundation