£1 million funding pot to help over 160 community groups during the pandemic.

During the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, Anglian Water announced plans to establish a new £1 million community support fund to provide a cash boost for local communities to meet emerging needs arising from the pandemic.

Over a year later, funding from the water company, which provides water and water recycling services for nearly seven million customers across Hartlepool and the East of England, has helped over 160 community organisations and over 100,000 individuals. Across Hartlepool alone, over £30,000 has been donated to different causes, helping around 5,000 individuals.

 

Working in collaboration with 15 Community Foundations the money helped local charitable organisations deal with issues in the community resulting from the threat of coronavirus. Organisations like food banks, outreach programmes and those helping the most vulnerable have benefitted from support from the Positive Difference Fund by offering extra support to those experiencing financial hardship, hunger, lack of shelter, as well as further exacerbation of health issues, loneliness and isolation.

 

Peter Simpson, Anglian Water’s Chief Executive

No one would have believed at the beginning of 2020 what a different world we’d be living in just 12 months later. All our lives have been affected by the pandemic in some way. As one of the biggest businesses in the East of England, we made a commitment to support our local communities through this difficult time. I’m proud that we’ve been able to make even a small difference to so many people. But our work is not done as we begin to emerge from the pandemic. Alongside the Positive Difference Fund, we’ve been working to support our customers in the best way we know how - by keeping taps running and toilets flushing, because access to water for health and hygiene has never been more important.

Making a difference in Hartlepool

 

In Hartlepool money from the Positive Difference Fund helped to:

  • Support volunteers at The Big League CIC, an organisation which houses local businesses and supports community projects. Throughout lockdown, Anglian Water’s grant supported The Big League to deliver up to 13,000 meals a week, all while providing their volunteers with the means to find employment: CVs, suit hire and work experience. Ian Cawley, manager, said: "We were a nice project that helped local people, but this has changed everything. We want to take it up a level and be part of the answer to the problem. We've committed to keep on delivering food parcels, but we also want to find out why people need them and help them with those problems.
  • Deliver the Eldon Grove Tennis Club’s ‘No Barriers to Tennis’ project, a community initiative designed to provide underrepresented groups with access to tennis facilities and equipment. The scheme has helped 300 members of the local community overcome financial, social and cultural barriers to participation in sports.

 

Rosemary Macdonald, CEO of UK Community Foundations

Over the past year, communities up and down the country have experienced unknown levels of hardship. The work of local charities and community organisations has never been more important, yet they are facing huge financial pressures. The willingness of companies like Anglian Water to step in and support the communities that they work in is absolutely vital. Through the Positive Difference Fund thousands of local people have got the support they need. Our member community foundations have ensured that Anglian Water’s generosity has reached the organisations best placed to make the biggest difference. As we move forward, partnerships like these will have an ever more crucial role to play in supporting the people and places most impacted by the pandemic.