Newyddion

New grant awarded to Belvoir Cricket & Countryside Trust

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We are pleased to announce our new three year grant to Belvoir Cricket & Countryside Trust, who work to influence children’s lives through sport and education; encouraging healthy lifestyles through sports participation and enhancing the educational opportunities for local able-bodied and disabled school children.  The Belvoir Cricket & Countryside Trust was set up in 2008 and is a registered charity focused on getting young people active and engaged in the rural countryside and in sport. In the nine years since the Trust was formed we have reached over 16,000 youngsters from mainstream & special schools and local rural communities.

Rural isolation is a significant issue for many.  This is often addressed by a focus on the elderly – but our youngsters and young families will re-generate rural areas. There is also a significant issue around the mass departure of young people from the countryside.  Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland make up the bottom 3 rural areas in the country for students not returning as referenced in the Commission for Rural Communities site. The commission has produced papers on the Big Society, Children in the Countryside and Extended Services for Rural Schools.

The Trust runs a number of different projects:

Cricket and Countryside School Days

27 days are run through the summer term offering mainstream & special schools the opportunity to come to the Castle Estate and take part in a morning of cricket coaching followed by an afternoon of interactive sessions with local ‘countryside’ workers such as a farmer, woodsman, gamekeeper and huntsman.

The programme fills a gap in the provision of education for primary school children as identified by the Countryside Alliance who believe that outdoor learning should be a part of every child’s education.

Special Needs Programme

The Trust delivers a six-week winter programme of Kwik and Table Cricket to children with learning and physical disabilities in 15 schools in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. Following the coaching the schools are invited take part in a schools’ table cricket competition linked with the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire County Cricket Boards and the Lords Taverners.

In July, the schools attend a Cricket and Countryside School Day at the Belvoir Castle. The children take part in a cricket session led by Trust Chief Executive Darren Bicknell and a team of coaches in the morning. In the afternoon’s, they are taken up to Belvoir Castle to take part in countryside educational activities; learning from local people such as farmers, gamekeepers and huntsman while also seeing birds of prey, gun dog and fishing demonstrations.

Belvoir Bees Cricket Coaching

A 20-week programme which runs through the summer at 7 rural small towns & villages providing regular 90 minutes’ activity on a weekly basis whilst delivering high quality coaching giving children from 4-11 years old the opportunity to play sport and learn & develop new skills.

We develop local adults into becoming volunteers in the coaching programme and aim to involve all members of the family in the activities through social interaction in a rural community.

Teach Cricket Programme

This is a 3-week programme of cricket coaching delivered in 20 local primary schools, all of which were outside the boundaries / catchment for the well-known Chance to Shine project. We give schools access to high quality coaching to enhance their delivery of the National Curriculum and the opportunity to develop their staff through CPD training.

Volunteer Programme

Our volunteer programme recruits, trains and mentor’s local community members to deliver cricket and/or education to youngsters.  The Trust Director delivers training workshops for our cricket volunteers enabling them to deliver cricket coaching to children. The Trust gives focused skills training for the specific needs of the Trust projects – without getting bogged down by administration/qualifications.

Shapeshifter Productions

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About

ShapeShifter Productions is a not-for-profit art organisation, aiming to provide the community with high quality art and encourage people to get involved. Due to their fantastic work, The Rank Foundation supported the organisation with their Smiling Sessions programme.

The Smiling Sessions

The Smiling Sessions project was spread over 20 weeks, delivering 39 sessions at 8 different care homes and care services. The project reached approximately 180 elderly people, often facing social isolation with complex needs, long term health problems and disabilities. During the Smiling Sessions, elderly people were assisted to sing songs by the project coordinators and members of staff from the care homes (see photos of Smiling Sessions).

The sessions made a significant impact on the participant’s quality of life, as group singing stimulates memories, creates a sense of belonging and enhances social, emotional and cognitive well-being, whilst connecting and interacting people. The support staff assisting the sessions noted a vast improvement since the residents started attending, in particular, increased self-esteem, improved social cohesiveness between the residents within the schemes and improved concentration and memory. The staff also noted that shy, disinterested residents gradually light up, start to smile, tap their toe and start singing!

The project clearly facilitated communication between in-house residents and staff at the care homes; enabling social contact within a different environment, in which elderly people were seen in a fresh light. This has not only generated a new respect and understanding, but strengthened the internal community of the housing schemes, where people tend to feel very isolated.

Another event, which particularly brought staff and residents together, was the Tea Dance. Eversheds International Law Firm contacted Shapeshifter Productions in 2015, having identified the organisation as a charity they wanted to support. As a result, a Tea Dance was organised, with Eversheds supplying volunteers to bake cakes, decorate the hall and befriend attendees. The event was really well attended, with over 50 participants present in good spirits, feeling very happy and uplifted.

For more Information

For further information on Shapeshifter Productions, please visit their website here

Aiming Higher – Supporting Families of Disabled Children

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About Aiming Higher

Aiming Higher is a UK registered charity based in Blackpool, which supports families of disabled children to attend social activities by ensuring easy access to buildings, hosting family events at suitable locations and subsidising the cost of activities. The Rank Foundation supported Aiming Higher to update the equipment in their Ball Pool Room and Sensory Centre, which became worn and needed replacing (see photos of families using the updated rooms).

Latoya Sykes, Charity Administrator at Aiming Higher, described how The Rank Foundation’s support benefited the local disabled community:

”I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Rank Foundation again for their amazing contribution towards the new facilities in our building at Aiming Higher. We had a fabulous opening ceremony that was presided over by the High Sheriff of Lancashire, who came to open the new Ball Pool Room and Sensory Centre.  The completion of the rooms came at an amazing time, as we have recently been further supported by Children in Need. This made it possible for more children to be able to access these new facilities we have. Thank you again for your contribution, it really has had an amazing impact on the local disabled community.”

 

For more Information

If you would like further information on Aiming Higher, please visit their website here.

 

The Major Grants Process

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The Rank Foundation only accepts applications for a small percentage of its grant making. The Pebble grants (formerly known as “small appeals”) equates to under 5% of the money that the Foundation spends on charitable activities. This can seem surprising to some who are keen to let the Foundation know of its work, particularly when they are aware of the Rank Foundation funding projects nearby.

Why do you not accept applications for the other funding?
The Rank Foundation operates a model of engaged philanthropy; this differs from traditional philanthropy in the level of involvement that we as a grant making body undertake. This includes social and intellectual, as well as financial capital, management support, and access to our wider network (soon to be known as RankNet).
Our experience suggests that by concentrating funding, knowledge and expertise in a very focused way, promoting stronger partnerships and increased collaboration, helps to ‘add value’ where the outcome is greater than the sum of each part. It is therefore vital that each project is chosen by our executives, not only for the good practice and performance that it singularly provides, but also for the benefit of the network as a whole. Our focus on three distinct issues (leadership, enterprise and care) means that we can leverage greater input in these discrete areas, working with grant recipients to maximise their impact and good practice.

How are the projects chosen?
The Rank Foundation follows a specific form of engaged philanthropy, which is research led by its executive directors. Each of our key areas is headed up by a director, which enables the Foundation to draw not only on their expertise, but also on the big picture view of the funded projects in the area. They are therefore uniquely placed to advise trustees and fellow executives on areas for further development, which can then be researched and brought to the Foundation’s attention. We are consequently able to invite only organisations which are a particularly good fit, and have a greater likelihood of a success, to go through the time consuming process of completing an application and the necessary due diligence.

How can I find out more?
For further information on other models of engaged philanthropy, please see the European Venture Philanthropy Association, of which the Rank Foundation is a member.

Time to Shine Review Conference – Windermere

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The Time to Shine Review Conference recently took place in Windermere, the Lake District.  This was an opportunity for all the charities involved in the programme to connect with each other and for The Rank Foundation to hear how the interns’ work had developed over the first six months.  Workshops are included for personal development, some time to reflect and relax with optional creative and leisure activities.

For the first time since the programme began we organised film training for the line managers (to their surprise, we managed to keep it quiet until arrival!).  This was initially greeted by most of the managers with the usual fear of being in front of camera but with the guidance from the fantastic VividEcho team of Alison, Keira and Toby, who then edited the films, the results are brilliant, with inspiration from a ‘Hitchcock’ style thriller to blooming flowers.  You can select the groups below which will redirect you to each video. Enjoy!

Develop & Flourish

Dave Rawding – Rank Associate
Sara Fernandez – Student Hubs
Mike Thompson – HYST
Jill Gledhill – Together Women Project
Simon James – Interlink RCT

Journey Into

Brigitta Laszlo – HANA
Will Law – Brainstrust
Maya Kumagai-Jones – St Hilda’s
James Hall – People and Work Unit
Jane Johnstone-Cree – Neuro Therapy Centre

The Doorway

Michelle Smith – Blackpool Carers
Yvonne Field – The Ubele Initiative
Jenny O’Hara Jakeway – Powys Carers
Titi Dawadu – Reaching Higher
Matt Bell – Exeter Community Initiatives

Thanksgiving for the life of Robin Cowen CBE

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‘He has achieved success who has lived well,
laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women,
the respect of intelligent men
and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth’s beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others
and given them the best he had;
Whose life was in inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.’
– Bessie Stanley

On Monday 20th June 2016, a Service of Thanksgiving was held for the life of Robin Cowen CBE.

Many friends, associates and beneficiaries of Robin’s hard work and the Foundation gathered together at Wesley’s Chapel, a Methodist congregation near Old Street, to celebrate his life and work. Despite the drizzly start to the morning, the congregation listened to inspiring accounts of Robin’s work, including his role in the Normandy landings and the Battle of Dunkirk, which (despite the weather) brightened the day.

We would like to thank all who came to celebrate with The Rank Foundation and Robin’s family, as well as Wesley’s Chapel for leading the memorial and the Honorable Artillery Company for hosting a wonderful reception afterwards.

If you have any stories of how Robin’s work touched your organisation or you personally, please get in touch!