Easter holiday fun for families in Margate

Families in Margate were treated to Easter-themed workshops at the Thanet Community Forest School CIC on Wednesday 4th April.

The school invited local families to their site in Margate for free activities including, arts and crafts, willow weaving, making bird feeders, bird watching, site walking and history. The day was topped off with an Easter egg hunt!

The workshops brought together all ages, from one to 80 from the local community to share skills and experiences in morning and afternoon sessions. Part of a larger project, further workshops are planned for the summer months.

Thanet Community Forest School is a local Community Incorporated Organisation with charitable status, based at Dane Valley Allotments in Margate. The school, based on a 13 acre site, teaches under-privileged youngsters about the about sustainability, ecology, conservation and the environment within a forest school teaching ethos. They offer events and sessions throughout the school holidays with their community at the very heart of what they do.

The school received funding for their Family Fun project via Kent Community Foundation of £8,000 from two endowment funds held with the grant-making charity; Albert Burn’s Children’s Trust Fund and Lawson Endowment Fund for Kent.

As a result of the day, grandmother, Nicola Design is now looking to volunteer for Thanet Community Forest School;

“It’s all due to Kent Community Foundation and the funders - I’d like to say a huge thank you. All the children today have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It’s been a little bit windy but we haven’t let that stop us! It has been brilliant fun.”

Kent Community Foundation’s endowment now stands at just over £18 million. For philanthropists who want to provide a lasting legacy for their local community and perhaps pass the heritage of giving on to the next generation of their own family, then endowed funds are extremely powerful. An endowed Fund is invested to produce an annual income which is distributed as grants each year.

Thanet businessman Albert Burns left instructions in his Will for his legal advisors Boys & Maughan Solicitors to create a lasting legacy for children. He particularly wanted to support smaller charities that don’t have the resources of the larger children’s charities. Boys & Maughan Solicitors work with Kent Community Foundation who manage the grant-making on their behalf and direct funding to local childrens’ groups and charities where it will make a significant impact locally.

Ian Priston, Boys & Maughan Solicitors;

“We are delighted to be working with Kent Community Foundation. They have enabled us to establish a significant legacy fund that will continue to benefit local communities for years to come, and means to reach out to many more Kent children’s charities than would have been possible if we had attempted to manage the trust independently.”

Natalie Smith, Director of Grants & Impact, KCF: “We support a vast array of fantastic projects throughout Kent, many of which are doing amazing things to help disadvantaged children and young people. So many of these projects are volunteer-led and make a life-changing difference to vulnerable young people in our county. We are so thrilled that Mr Burns’ generosity and passion to support these projects can live on beyond his lifetime.”

To apply for funding through Kent Community Foundation visit www.kencf.org.uk/apply