Greenham Trust is offering local charitable organisations from across West Berkshire and north Hampshire the opportunity to win up to £100,000 of funding in a Dragons’ Den style competition. Charities who are in need of funding for projects between £30,000 to £100,000 are to apply ahead of the application deadline on Friday 8 March 2019.
Now in its fourth year, the free to attend event ‘Pitch to the Panel’ hosted by Greenham Trust returns on Wednesday 8 May 2019, at The Corn Exchange, Newbury. The event celebrates and raises awareness of the inspiring work carried out by local good causes.
Chris Boulton, chief executive for Greenham Trust said: “We are thrilled to be able to provide local charities with a platform to share the incredible things they do each and every day for extremely worthy causes.
“Previous winners have received funding for major capital projects such as new equipment at West Berkshire Therapy Centre to exciting initiatives that simply would not have happened without this financial support. We urge projects of all types to apply and we want to reassure applicants that we will support them throughout the application process.”
In 2017, SeeAbility received £10,211 towards the refurbishment of its gym and replacement of its 20-year old equipment. Miriam Oppenheim, SeeAbility’s Trusts and Communities Manager explains why the immediate funding was so crucial for them:
“The grant has been a real game changer and has enabled SeeAbility to be more innovative at a time when the young people we support, need it the most. If we hadn’t received the funding from Greenham Trust, it would have taken us longer to secure this specialist equipment which is now making an extraordinary difference to peoples’ independence each and every day.
“When you have a forum like The Good Exchange that allows you to reach out to a number of different donors, it’s worth putting in the extra effort to develop a larger application. It is worth it in the long run too because you could build some really valuable partnerships out of it!”
For details on how to apply for funding through Pitch to the Panel and to download full terms and conditions, please visit www.pitchtothepanel.com/y2019 or ring Greenham Trust on 01635 817444.
Only one application can be made per organisation and applicants must apply via the online fundraising platform The Good Exchange. The six shortlisted projects will be announced on 4 April 2019 when the public can vote online for their favourite project. Each vote registered will release an additional £1 donation from Greenham Trust. Voting is restricted to one vote per person. On-line voting will be open from Thursday 4 April to Monday 6 May 2019 inclusive.
The successful applicants will pitch their ground-breaking ideas at the Pitch to the Panel event in front of a live audience to a panel of judges who will decide whether the funds are distributed across a maximum of six projects or one winner takes it all. An exciting new twist for 2019!
Also new for this year’s event, is the golden ticket. Every audience member at the event will be entered into a prize draw to win the golden ticket. The lucky winner, who will be drawn at the end of the evening, will be invited to nominate either a single project or a number of projects on The Good Exchange, within Greenham Trust’s area of operation, to receive grants of up to £5000 from Greenham Trust. The winner must be present to claim the award.
Tickets to attend the Pitch to the Panel event are free of charge and can be reserved online or are available from The Corn Exchange box office. Alternatively, you can call 0845 5218 218.