Waterloo Foundation donates £200,000 to help communities respond and recover

The Waterloo Foundation has donated £200,000 to Community Foundation Wales’ Coronavirus Resilience Fund to help groups to deliver emergency support and plan for long-term recovery from the effects of the pandemic.

The fund has supported groups in Wales with 856 grants so far, many providing food to vulnerable people, or equipment to keep people safe.

Race Council Cymru is just one of the groups supported by the Wales Coronavirus Resilience Fund. They received a grant to provide laptops to BAME families, without electronic devices, to enable children to learn online during lockdown. Here one young person tells us what that help means to them.

Waterloo Foundation’s generous donation will mean quick support for many more hard-hit communities across Wales.

Katy Hales, Manager, Donor Advised Giving said:

“We are delighted to have received a donation of £200,000 from the Waterloo Foundation to go towards our Coronavirus Resilience Fund and are so grateful for their ongoing support. This fund has been vital in helping charitable groups and voluntary organisations to continue carrying out their essential work, supporting communities across Wales throughout this pandemic.”

Anna Rees from the Waterloo Foundation said:

“The Waterloo Foundation is proud to support Community Foundation Wales’s Coronavirus Resilience Fund. While we understand that charities are continuing to respond to the devastating impact of this pandemic, we also recognise the need to further support them in their recovery, ensuring they are well-placed to be able to continue to help the communities they serve in the difficult months ahead.”

Whilst Waterloo Foundation’s gift will be enough to help roughly half the number of applicants Community Foundation Wales have had over the past month, currently a further 100 projects remain unfunded.

For example, Star Hub Community Gardening Association in Cardiff are seeking a grant of £6,219 to help them develop an existing community garden in Cardiff that will enable more produce to be grown, help volunteers to gain new skills, and improve attendees’ mental health.

Securing a grant of £18,430 would allow Brighter Futures in Rhyl to employ staff to restart their youth activities. This a deprived area so it is important that the young people in the community have access to training and upskilling opportunities that they may have missed due to the pandemic.

Further funding is urgently needed to support projects like these. Donors and corporate supporters who are looking to demonstrate their commitment in helping the Welsh third sector at this difficult time can provide vital financial assistance.

Katy Hales, Manager, Donor Advised Giving added:

“The generosity of donors so far has been astounding but the problems faced by the third sector, and those they support, are not going away – if anything, they are increasing.

It is our hope that this contribution from the Waterloo Foundation will prompt other supporters to consider how they can play a part in ensuring Wales’ most vulnerable communities receive the help they desperately need during this third wave of lockdown measures.”

Click here to find out how you can get involved with the Wales Coronavirus Resilience Fund.