London City Airport Community Fund announces £35k grants to local charities

London City Airport (LCY) has unveiled the latest group of local organisations that have been awarded grants from its £75,000 Community Fund to enable significant and positive change for the airport’s communities in East London.

In the latest round of funding, £35,940 has been allocated to 12 local groups and community organisations covering eight East London boroughs, including Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Southwark, Lewisham, and Barking and Dagenham.

Each organisation has been awarded a grant of up to £3,000 in line with the Community Fund’s aims to build stronger, safer, and healthier communities, create pathways to employment, engender more sustainable and greener communities and raise the aspirations of East Londoners.

Nazmin Begum, Community Engagement and Sustainability Manager at London City Airport, said: “Now in its third year, the Community Fund is a key aspect of the airport’s support for Newham and our local boroughs in East London. We are really pleased to award this funding to such an impressive and diverse range of local organisations, who are delivering vital projects to raise the aspirations of East Londoners and build stronger, safer, and healthier communities for all.”

Successful grantees that have secured funding in this latest round include the Learning Revolution Trust, a charity established by Newham College that aims to remove the financial and social barriers to further education and employment.

Martin Cumella, Chair of The Learning Revolution Trust, said: “We are delighted to receive support from London City Community Fund for our ‘Relaunch’ project. We are pleased to be working in partnership with Newham College of Further Education and the Newham Chamber of Commerce to support 20 unemployed young people so that they can acquire the skills and work experience that they need to get back to work.  Their job prospects have been adversely affected by the COVID pandemic and this funding will provide small grants to help individuals to participate in training to get them ready for work.”

Funding has also been awarded to Disability Sports Coach, a charity based in Southwark that empowers disabled children and adults to engage in regular sports and physical activity.

Peter Ackred, CEO of Disability Sports Coach, said: “We are delighted to receive this generous grant from the London City Airport Community Fund. The funding will help us to reopen our network of Community Clubs for disabled people in Hackney, Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets following their extended closure due to the Coronavirus crisis, helping to ensure disabled people are not left behind as society reopens.”

South London Cares, which provides a network of social clubs for older and younger people across Lambeth and Southwark, has also secured a grant to support the charity’s work to tackle loneliness and isolation and to help bring different generations and communities together.

Jodie Goffe, Development Coordinator, South London Cares, said: “South London Cares is very grateful for this funding, which will help us deliver 200 Social Clubs for older and younger neighbours across Southwark and Lambeth. The clubs will provide fun opportunities for neighbours of all ages to build community and friendship, and decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation, while bridging gaps across cultural, generational and digital divides.”

A grant has also been awarded to the Romford Town Swimming Club to help establish a new programme that will train swimmers as qualified coaches, creating new job opportunities for young adults in the local area.

Laura Scannell, Chairperson, Romford Town Swimming Club, said: “Romford Town Swimming Club would like to give a massive thank you to London City Airport for their support. We are a local charity supporting children and young adults to learn a valuable life skill and supporting them on their swimming journey. With the aid of volunteers and teachers we help those from 4 years and above to reach their full potential in the sport they enjoy. With the help of the Community Fund we are able to continue to work with our young adults to train them as teachers of the future and close a need for valuable teaching across the borough.”

This financial support comes at a vital time for the airport’s communities in East London as they continue to deal with the economic and societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The Community Fund grants will enable the local groups to continue to provide, and expand, the support they deliver to vulnerable people in East London, covering areas such as youth employment and training; health and wellbeing; food poverty; sustainability and the environment; arts and culture; youth sport; and supporting disabled adults and children with special educational needs and disabilities.
 
The 12 local community groups receiving the latest round of funding are based in or are active in the following London boroughs: Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Havering, and Barking and Dagenham.

The new funding means that, in 2021, the London City Airport Community Fund has awarded a total of £75,977 to 26 charities and not for profit organisations based in East London.

Alongside the Community Fund, the airport has committed to supporting East London’s recovery from COVID-19 by launching a London City Helpers employee volunteering programme, establishing a new youth mentoring scheme, assisting with food bank donations and deliveries, and donating laptops to local schools to support students with their online learning.