We are absolutely thrilled to announce the support of the Lloyds Bank Foundation which has awarded us two years of unrestricted funding.

The nature of the grant means that the Foundation will actively support us to develop the areas we know need to be improved but have not had the funding, expertise or capacity to do by ourselves – particularly given the pressures placed on us by Covid-19. By involving the Lloyds Bank staff and external partners we will gain access to knowledge and skills that will help us continue to develop and grow.

The first phase of the support will focus on our infrastructure and back-office functions. Whilst this may sound dull to some we are very excited. Making better and more streamlined use of technology will make us more efficient and our day to day working lives easier – this is better for the staff themselves but importantly it means more time can be spent working with young people, which is what it’s all about.

The first phase of the grant period will result in more efficient collaborative working practices, information sharing, case recording and monitoring and evaluation whilst investing in the implementation of a new accounting system will make reporting to the Board and to our funders a much easier task than it has been.   

The second phase will focus on developing our longer-term strategy for the charity.

We are extremely grateful to the Foundation for their support and to the people we have met through the application process and our initial meetings as grant-holders. They have been positive, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and professional and we are looking forward to working with them and their colleagues and business partners over the next two years.