We have been able to make a grant to Lambeth Larder to urgently fund an expansion of their information portal showing where local food help and provision is available within the borough during the public health emergency.

We are circulating this information: please draw it to the attention of local Lambeth groups who may need such help -

• New fund launched by City Hall and City Bridge Trust to support London’s community and voluntary organisations affected by the impact of the coronavirus Details here
  
• Martin Lewis releases £1,000,000 from his charity fund to provide grants of £5,000 to £20,000 to small registered charities, or local arms of bigger charities, across the UK – to help with specific UK coronavirus-related poverty relief projects. Details here

Some of the projects we are funding have already told us about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their work. If you are a project we fund, please see our message here. We want to help you get through this and continue to have a benefcial impact on those you serve.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published its annual report on UK poverty. Key headlines -

• In-work poverty is increasing
  More than half of all people in poverty are in a working family – 56% compared to 39% 20 years ago
• Social security is an essential public service: it should provide the anchor that we all need in tough times and should stop us getting swept into poverty
• We all need somewhere to live – somewhere to call home – so it’s unacceptable that many of us are shut out of having a secure, affordable home
  Housing costs have risen since 2000/01 for households on low incomes who rent in the private and social rented sectors, while a raft of changes to social security policy have been underway since around 2010, making housing less affordable

Both the Summary and Full Reports can be downloaded here

7 January 2020
We are saddened to learn of the death of Gerald - Gerry - Bowden, a former longstanding Governor of the Walcot Foundation. He was 84.
Gerry's service to the Foundation was extensive and significant. Altogether he served as a Governor for 40 years, retiring in 2014.  His approach to the finances and investments of the Foundation over those years helped increase our capacity as a grantmaker. We owe him a great deal. His wikipedia entry may be viewed here
His farewell letter on retirment from the Foundation

Update 16/1/2020
Gerry's funeral will take place at 11.30 am on Thursday 23 January 2020 at St Agnes Church, Kennington Park, 37 St Agnes Place
London SE11 4BB

It will be followed by a reception in the Church Hall. His body will be interred at the Church of St Osmund, Melbury Osmond, Dorset
on Friday 24 January. Donations in Gerry’s memory are being accepted
towards the work of the “Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund” PO Box 47432, London N21 1XP (020 8360 1119)

Read the report on our work in 2018/2019.
Click here, or on the image.

If you'd prefer a hard copy, please call us, and we'll get one in the post to you: 020 7735 1925

New Living Wage rates have been announced by the Living Wage Foundation. See their press release here and their video, below -

We recently invited some of the students we are supporting to come to our offices for drinks and tell us how they are doing. Governors and staff were delighted to catch up with them, and to hear their news. Many said how essential our bursaries, usually over three years, are in helping them stay afloat.

Last year we made grants to 148 Lambeth students, totalling £238,477. They are following courses at a wide range of universities across the United Kingdom. Subjects studied include Chemical Engineering, Medicine, Law, Psychology, Criminology, History and Nursing.

We are developing the support we offer our Walcot Students. From this year, through our grant to Power2, they are able to access careers advice, mentoring and help in arranging placements.  We want to help students to make the most of their time at university so as to increase what is often termed 'social/cultural capital'. Our aim, through our grants and support, is to give our grantees from low-income Lambeth households the best possible chance of gaining properly paid jobs that fit in with their career plans. We're really proud of them!

We are celebrating Living Wage Week

We are currently seeking someone to join us on Mondays and Tuesdays 0900-1700 (14 hours PW) as Estate and Governance Administrator. Starting salary on range of £10,663-£11,282 pa (full time equivalent £26,658-£28,206 pa). Details here

See our Annual Review 2017/2018, Unfinished Business, online.
Printed copies are available on request. We'll be glad to send you a copy. Call us during office hours on 020 7735 1925 or email office <at> walcotfoundation.org.uk

Read our interview with a modern day benefactor of the Walcot Foundation - here

There have been dramatic cuts to London's youth services since 2016 according to a briefing paper by Sian Berry, a Member of the London Assembly. She highlights these main findings for the period 2011/12 to 2017/18

• At least £39 million has been cut from council youth service budgets across London
  
• Overall, there has been a 44 per cent youth service budget cut, with the average council taking £1.5 million out of youth services over this time
• Across 25 councils with like-for-like data, 81 youth centres and major council-supported youth projects have been cut
  
• Across 22 councils with like-for-like data, 800 youth service full-time posts have gone. At least a further £1.2 million is being cut from 15 councils in 2018/19 budgets
• Since 2011, the cumulative amount not spent on services for young people in London is now more than £145m

The briefing shows these figures for Lambeth (the area we serve) -
Change in funding youth services 2011/12-2018/18 -£2,499,000, a reduction ob this period of 53%
These reductions - part of the wider, severe cuts to public spending - have had a major impact on a range of provision that offered support and engagement to young people. The long term costs of this are likely to be significant.

Founded in 2017 by actor and activist Michael Sheen, the End High Cost Credit Alliance formally launched on 20 March 2018 at the Responsible Finance conference in Glasgow. The Alliance seeks fair, affordable credit products for those who need them.  A key requirement is clarity about the true cost of borrowing. In this video, Michael Sheen tells a pub story to show hidden high APR costs...