Dozens of community groups secure funding from the Wessex Water Foundation

The Wessex Water Foundation has awarded £155,000 to 60 groups through its Community Fund, which supports charitable and community activities that improve the lives of local people – particularly through grassroots and small to medium-sized organisations.

Among the latest beneficiaries were: Off the Record, which helps fund mental health care for young people in Bath and North East Somerset; brain injury support organisation Headway Somerset; a farm-based café project that offers work experience and employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities run by the Able Hands Trust in Wiltshire; and Home-Start North Dorset to fund volunteers to help local families on all aspects of parenting.

The Foundation was launched in 2020 and is run in partnership with the Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Quartet Community Foundations. It provides grants totalling at least £500,000 per year.

Applications for the 2022/23 Community Fund will re-open in September. Meanwhile, projects primarily focused on the local environment can apply to the Wessex Water Foundation Environment Fund from May 2022.