As a co-operative, we've always supported our local communities. By working together, we aim to make life better for everyone. We’ve supported the work of these local groups and charities because we believe that they share this vision and can help people in our communities to thrive.

Since the launch of the Fund in April 2020 we've awarded 163 grants, supporting more than 95,000 people in our local communities. 

Below are the local good causes we've supported through the Fund so far and the great projects and services they're helping to deliver.

Community Care Fund recipients in Essex

• Age Concern, Colchester & North East Essex have been awarded £5,000 towards re‐establishing pop‐up dementia cafes across Colchester and Tendring to aid the mental heath and wellbeing of carers.
• Ark Family Resource Centre are creating a sensory garden for children and families in Harwich.
• Bread and Roses Barge CIC will be delivering wellbeing sessions and providing a safe space for vulnerable women on their Thames Sailing Barge May.
• Bridgeway Mission are providing food, friendship and guidance to newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in Colchester.
• Castle Hedingham Parish Council are using our grant of £5,000 to create an accessible village garden for all residents to enjoy. There’ll be quiet spaces as well as vegetable beds to grow produce for sharing with the wider community. 
• Citizen's Advice Bureau Tendring will be upgrading their IT equipment so they can help even more people in need of financial or personal support. 
• Clothing Clinic Textile Collective CIC are going to encouraging more people to discover the wellbeing benefits of sewing and textile art.
• Colchester Kings RFC, the first LGBTQ+ rugby team in East Anglia, will be offering opportunities for anyone, regardless of sexuality, age, size or ability, to enjoy the benefits of team sport.  
• Colchester Toy Library have been granted £2,981.50 towards their service, which provides high quality toys and stay and play sessions for all children, including specialist support sessions for those with special educational needs.  
• We awarded £5,000 to Colchester & Tendring Youth Enquiry Service towards the development of counselling services for young people in Colchester whose mental health has been affected by the pandemic.
• The Dance Network Association CIC in Colchester have been awarded £5,000 towards the creation of dance classes and a social programme for older adults, people living with Dementia and Parkinson's and their families.
• Earls Colne Recreation Ground have been awarded £2,600 for refurbishing their sports and recreational facilities so that everyone can enjoy affordable activities. 
• Empire Theatre Trust CIO will be using their grant of £2,000 to offer free afternoon film sessions for those living with dementia, illness or similar personal circumstances in Braintree and Colchester.  
• Essex Carers Network CIC have been awarded £2,600 towards a pilot scheme which will provide arts and craft activities for families caring for those with learning disabilities in Tendring.  
• Ferriers Barn in Essex were awarded £4,000 towards the adaptation of facilities to ensure activity can continue for adults with learning difficulties.
• Firstsite in Colchester are using our grant of £2,500 to help run a holiday club providing food and activities for families facing challenging circumstances. Every day there’ll be a fun physical and creative activity for the children, alongside a hot nutritious meal. 
• Friends of Terling School have been awarded £2,250 to support the creation of a new breakfast club for the children. They’ll be able to enjoy a range of activities alongside a healthy breakfast so they’re ready to start the learning day. 
• Harwich Festival of the Arts Trust’s grant of £4,340 will help with the creation of a new arts café for the whole community at the Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre.  
• Headway Essex are using our grant of £3,000 to run social groups for adults with acquired brain injury living in north-east Essex, helping them to develop new networks and friendships. 
• Home-Start Colchester, Jaywick and Clacton will be using their award of £2,981.50 to create a new service called Time 4YOU, a space where parents and young people can openly share their story, describe their feelings and, together with professional support, create plans to make helpful changes.  
• Home-Start Harwich have been awarded £3,000 to set up a pilot parent and baby support group in Harwich and the surrounding villages. 
• Inclusion Ventures Ltd will be using their grant of £4,500 to create a new community garden in Jaywick. Residents of all ages will be able to grow and share fresh, healthy food to share with the community. 
• Lawford C of E Primary School PTA have been given £1,500 to replace their old raised beds to support the children’s learning experience. All the children will have the opportunity to learn about growing, caring for and eating good, healthy food. 
• Little Yeldham, Tilbury-Juxta-Clare and Ovington Parish Council are making their pathways accessible, so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of being outside.
• Mistley Kids Club will be using their grant of £2,000 to expand childcare and respite for families of children who have special and additional needs in north-east Essex. 
• Silver End Youth Club will be providing engaging activities at their new weekly youth club.
• Stambourne Congregational Church will be offering befriending and community services for the most vulnerable in their community.
• Theatre Témoin will be providing workshops to help young people navigate the challenges of social media.
• Toppesfield Community Village Shop will use their grant of £2,000 to create a new café for their rural community. They are aiming to provide fresh local produce and stock eco-friendly goods.  
• The Victor Batte Lay Foundation in Colchester were awarded £5,000 towards the creation of arts activities within a new community hub in the town centre. Working with Community 360 they are planning an exciting creative programme of activities appealing to all ages and backgrounds.
• Wivenhoe Bumps and Babies have been awarded £725 towards restarting their sessions which offer support, guidance and friendship for new parents and families. 

Community Cares Fund recipients in Norfolk

• ArtatWork CIC will be developing a new, free creative wellbeing club for adults in Mile Cross.
• Build Charity covering Norwich and the surrounding area have been awarded £3,784 to reinstate their activities including dance, circuit‐training, swimming, walkabouts that encourage and promote healthy lifestyles benefitting the long‐term mental and physical health for people with disabilities and complex needs.
• Chapter15 in Thetford will be using their award of £2,787 for the creation of shower and laundry facilities for people who are homeless. 
• Creative Support for Vulnerable Families and Children in Norfolk have been given £2,000 to provide art therapy sessions with vulnerable families and children in North Norfolk. 
• We awarded ENYP in Norwich £3,000 to provide families and vulnerable groups with food through their Picnic Project.
• £3,342 was awarded to Gatehouse Caring in East Anglia to deliver an online Mindfulness for Later Life course for Norfolk residents over the age of 65.
• Get Me Out The Four Walls will be making new connections in their communities, so even more people can be supported through life's challenges.
• During lockdown Miniature Donkeys for Wellbeing organised virtual visits. They have been awarded £2,059 to support the expansion of the service.  
• Morley Village & Sports Hall will be purchasing new, accessible equipment for their community climbing wall, so those living with a disability can enjoy the fun of climbing too. 
• Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Norfolk will be supported in covering the rising energy costs for their centre, supporting people living with the complications of MS.   
• Nelson's Journey based in Norfolk have been awarded £3,648 to support the work of their Child Bereavement Support work.
• New‐U Enterprises provide support for unemployed young people and have been awarded £3,500 to run workshops to improve confidence, self‐esteem and develop employability skills.
• Norfolk & Norwich SEND Association (NANSA) are using their grant to provide opportunities to socialise through their free Link-up programme for adults with learning disabilities.
• Norwich City Community Sports Foundation will use their grant of £3,900 to fund their 'Run for Me' programme, which supports young adults to increase their mental and physical wellbeing through the power of sport. 
• Norwich Men's Shed are going to be getting out and about with their 'Shedders', encouraging anyone and everyone to get involved in the joy of creating through outreach events and open days.
• NR5 Community Hub in Norwich have been given £1,980 to support the huge range of activities they provide for local residents, including weekly play and stay, homework clubs and holiday meals. By bringing people back together, they are rebuilding resilience and social connections. 
• Off the Record Counselling Service (Norfolk) have been given £2,500 towards providing affordable counselling sessions for vulnerable people.  
• Parenting Apart Centre East CIC are providing specialist contact support sessions in Great Yarmouth and Norwich.
• Top Banana who support people in the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston area have been awarded £5,000 to provide a series of free family cooking sessions during school holidays.
• Wellspring Family Centre in Dereham were awarded £5,000 to support the running costs of the Well‐come project helping people recovering from mental illness.
• Willow Tree Garden will be offering a new programme of cooking, art, music and exercise classes for young adults living with disabilities.

Community Cares Fund recipients in Suffolk

• Abbeycroft Leisure are developing their 'Family Park Cooking Project', which gives families in receipt of Free School Meals the opportunity to enjoy time spent together in the great outdoors.
• We awarded £4,953 to Access Community Trust in Lowestoft who are looking to produce 6 videos and hold 6 livestreaming sessions to inform, support and educate disadvantaged local people identified through the Pink Orange food poverty project.
• ActivLives have been awarded £2,980 towards a new 12-week chair-based exercise programme in Ipswich, Woodbridge and the Shotley Peninsula. The sessions will help to improve fitness and will also provide information on how to reduce falls at home.
• Beccles Lido will be using their grant for their 'Forget-Me-Nots' group, a social club for those living with dementia and their carers.  
• Communities Together (formerly BSEVC) have been awarded £2,000 towards their Later Life Community service which offers and activities to improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and social isolation amongst older people.
• Christian Youth Ministries has been awarded £4,191 to support students and teaching staff at Chantry Academy in Ipswich.
• Debenham Village Hall & Playing Field Trust will use their grant to support their Golden Years Games Club, a bi-weekly games club for older people at risk of isolation.
• Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk) have been granted £3,000 towards providing a Crisis Project Worker, who will support clients experiencing financial, social or personal crisis. 
• The East of England Faiths Agency CIC have been awarded £3,000 towards the production of a game to be used in care homes in Suffolk to improve mental wellbeing.
• Eden’s Project in Sudbury will be using their award of £3,336.30 to run a range of positive wellbeing interventions, including creative sessions and counselling, for young people aged 11 - 25 years old.  
• East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice have been given £2,500 towards their bereavement support provision for family members who have lost a child or sibling. 
• Emmaus Suffolk in Ipswich have been given £4,000 towards running a Cooking Club for their clients who are vulnerable, socially isolated, homeless or unemployed.  
• Eye Opportunity Group are using our grant of £2,500 towards providing one-to-one help for children with complex needs. 
• We awarded £2,500 to Family First Ipswich so they can continue to support vulnerable families via their mentoring programme and parenting courses.
• Footsteps Walking With You in Suffolk have been awarded £2,500 towards increasing their counselling provision for 11‐25-year-olds and support for their families.
• Future Female Society will be using their funding to support vulnerable women through their monthly More Than Mum coffee mornings and quarterly Happiness Brunches.
• Hive in Sudbury are looking to purchase the former United Reformed Church and were awarded £5,000 towards the cost of creating this new community hub for the town.
• Ipswich BMX Club have been awarded £3,119 to install a disabled ramp for their new Clubhouse.
• Inspire Suffolk have been awarded £2,500 to support their wellbeing service, which provides counselling and early intervention for young people aged 10 - 25 years.  
• Karibu African Women's Support Group will be creating a children's social group, strengthening their bonds within the community.
• Leiston, Saxmundham & District Citizen’s Advice Bureau will be using their grant of £2,000 to develop tailored support for clients experiencing mental health difficulties such as budgeting and debt advice. 
• Leiston Town Pastors have been awarded £2,500 towards their regular community engagement work which also supports local people and businesses in the town. 
• Leiston United Church are looking to make the community hall more accessible and have been awarded £5,000 towards the cost of a disability ramp.
• The Mix in Stowmarket have been awarded £3,449 to support the Greenlights mentoring project to deliver 1:1 mentoring for local primary school pupils aged 9‐11 struggling with anxiety, social skills, emotional management and poor resilience.
• REACH have been awarded £5,000 towards the cost of expanding their foodbank provision across rural West Suffolk and North Essex, targeting rural residents who need food but struggle to access foodbanks.
• Through their Call Companions service, Re-engage helps tackle isolation and loneliness in older people across Suffolk. They have been awarded £2,000 to continue to run the service.
• Riding for the Disabled (Woodbridge & District Group) have been awarded £3,458 to adapt their 'Pony Time' activity to meet the needs of those living with dementia and to use their Horse Care & Stable Management activities to encourage more children with social, emotional and mental health needs to attend.
• Rock, Paper, Scissors Arts CIC in Ipswich have been awarded £1,787.85 towards their creative workshops in collaboration with Suffolk Mind to enable children and young people to identify their wellbeing needs and develop their own tools to address them. 
• The Seagull Lowestoft CIC have been awarded £3,720 towards the running of their Girls’ Confidence and Wellbeing group to help girls aged between 10-15 years to build their confidence and self-esteem and to improve their mental health.
• Somersham Tennis Club have been granted £3,500 towards their new clubhouse; this new resource will provide a new community hub for everyone to enjoy. 
• St Edmundsbury Cathedral will be expanding their Yard Project to support children through fun activities and life skills after school and during the holidays.  
• St Elizabeth Hospice are working with their local libraries to provide training to staff in talking compassionately about-end of-life. They will also be providing multi-age books and resources to facilitate conversations about end-of-life.
• Suffolk Artlink who are based in Walberswick have been awarded £3,980 to build a ‘virtual venue’ to share their creative activities with more people online.
• We awarded £3,753 to Suffolk Family Carers to help family carers have more understanding of how to look after their own mental wellbeing, to help family carers be able to connect with their communities and each other, to help family carers understand trauma, identify the signs, and be able to use coping strategies.
• The Pear Tree Fund will be using their funds to develop their 'Cooking for One' project, an initiative which supports the recently bereaved in adapting to their new personal situations.
• The Sunflower Community Care Farm CIC will be supporting women experiencing personal challenges such as trauma or poor mental health through enriching outdoor activities.
• Voices for Gainsborough Community Library are using their funding to support their new 'Man Can Talk' group and create a new community singing project.
• Walton Parish Nursing’s grant of £2,000 will fund a Mental Health Nurse to continue and develop their mental health support in the community. Demand for this service has increased rapidly since the start of the pandemic.  
• Woodbridge Tide Mill have been awarded £1,041 towards improvements to make visits for SEND families and individuals welcoming, accessible and inclusive.