Back in July 2022, The DPO Centre launched the Charity and Community Fund initiative. Throughout our years of working closely with charities and not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, we recognised that every penny counts, and all available resources needed to be focussed on the cause. However, charities and NFPs deserve access to expert data protection advice and guidance to ensure they run efficiently and remain compliant with the law. The DPO Centre therefore launched the Charity and Community Fund.
The fund’s purpose is to provide access to our data protection consultancy services, but at an 80% funded rate, enabling worthy causes to access our expertise, but with the least effect on their ability to fund their core purpose.
For the first round, we had a total of 42 initial applications from fantastic charities and NFPs across the UK to apply for up to £10,000 worth of funding. From here, 16 charities made the short list and were put to our Charity Fund Panel who had the incredibly difficult decision of deciding the final four charities who would receive the funding. We are very pleased to announce that the four successful charities were The Winch, P3, Fight for Sight and Survivors in Transition.
The Winch
The Winchester Project, more commonly known as The Winch, is a small charity working with children and young people from the ages of 4 to 25 across Camden, North London, and the surrounding boroughs. Their aim is to create a world in which every child and young person is supported to grow, learn and flourish, and contribute positively to their community. They do this through a pipeline of activities and services including afterschool clubs, play schemes, mentoring, open youth clubs and a variety of additional programmes. You can find out more about their work here.
P3
P3 are a charity and social enterprise. They run a variety of services across the UK, that aim to give everyone the chance to be part of the community they live in and feel connected to society. P3’s mission and vision is to work alongside people to improve lives and communities, to unlock potential and open up new possibilities. They want every person to be recognised as a valued member of society where social injustice no longer exists. You can find out more about them here.
Fight for Sight
Fight for Sight’s mission is to stop sight loss through pioneering research. The science they fund is on the verge of so many discoveries that are already transforming lives. Their researches are based at leading universities and hospitals across the UK. Fight for Sight want to stop sight loss caused by eye conditions and diseases. They do this by funding the best research, becoming a voice for people affected by sight loss and providing people affected by sight loss with the information they need. You can find out more about them here.
Survivors in Transition
Survivors in Transition (SiT) is a support centre for men and women who have experienced any form of sexual abuse in their childhood. SiT support survivors through a range of trauma informed, psycho-educational activities including one to one and group therapy, counselling, advocacy, research and training to become empowered and improve self esteem and resilience. You can find out more about them here.
Whatever the size and nature of your organisation, whether you are an environmental, social, animal, children’s or community-based charity or NFP based in the UK, you will be eligible to apply for our funding. Applications for our second round of funding will open on the 9th January 2023 and will close on the 18th March 2023. You can find out more about the Charity and Community Fund and how to apply here.