Northern Angel Fund for Berwick celebrates 20 years of grant-making and more than £400k of impact
The Northern Angel Fund for Berwick at the Community Foundation North East is this year celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Originally established in 2005 by anonymous donations from a local businessman, the fund also benefited from a generous legacy in 2018 from Edith Schlesinger, whose family arrived in the UK as refugees from Germany in the early 1930s, before she retired to Berwick.
It supports charitable activity that improves the skills of local people, enhances community cohesion, and contributes to the unique and diverse culture of Berwick – including Tweedmouth, Spittal, East Ord, and Scremerston.
Since inception, the value of the fund has grown to over £500,000 and it has made more than 250 grants totalling nearly £415,000.
Andrew Ayre, who acts as a local adviser to the fund, said: “The fund has grown through lifetime gifts and bequests and the absorption of other small pots of local money to enable worthwhile levels of support to be provided locally.
“This is especially true when the fund is able to leverage in additional support from other Community Foundation funds where interests overlap.”
Recent grants have included supporting Berwick Barracks Heritage Trust to develop a programme of events to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of Holy Trinity School and providing protective equipment and uniforms for volunteers of Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team.
New approaches from community and voluntary organisations seeking support for their work are always welcome and the staff at the Community Foundation are willing to give pre-application advice. Find out more at www.communityfoundation.org.uk