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Starlings Support CIC - charity supporting families

Great News for Eight Thanet Charities 

Eight charitable organisations in Thanet have received a share of over £25,000 from the Albert Burns Children's Charitable Trust Fund administered through Kent Community Foundation.

The charities were notified this week that their applications for financial support had been approved and that they would be receiving grants to support their work within the local community.

The successful groups were St Nicholas at Wade Parent Teacher and Friends Association, Inclusive Sport CIC, Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, Thanet Iceberg Project, St Paul’s Church Cliftonville, Starlings Support CIC, Thanet Food Link and Millmead Children's Centre. Additionally, Kent-wide charity Demelza Hospice Care, based in Sittingbourne, received almost £5,000.

Since March 2020, the Newington Community Food Club (Starlings Support CIC) has been supporting over 1,600 households across Thanet with free and low-cost food. They will receive a grant of £1,500 to subsidise the Food Club for six months. The club is part of the Newington Big Local community project and was set up very quickly at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the emergency demand for help to feed families in the Newington area.

Charlie Fox, Director, Starlings Support CIC, said “The grant from the Albert Burns Children's Charitable Trust Fund will allow us to manage the increasing demand we receive for help. We are also starting to look at ways to make the Food Club sustainable and are working with a community chef to encourage residents to cook healthy, affordable meals, and to nurture a different attitude towards food and cooking. Many families with children tell us they are feeling overwhelmed with Covid and with this support we will be able to help more residents, and increase access to nutritious, balanced and affordable meals.”

Oasis Domestic Abuse Service will receive a grant of £7,500 towards the salary costs of a Child Support Worker who works with the child residents of a Thanet refuge. The Support Worker gives traumatised children who have experienced domestic violence, a safe and confidential space to work through their emotions and communicates with them through 1:1 sessions and group work.

Loukia Michael, Oasis Domestic Abuse, said, “Without the support of the Albert Burns Children's Charitable Trust Fund we were facing a very real risk of having to lose a Child Support Worker at the very time it is most needed. The effects of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns on victims of domestic abuse has been widely documented and we know that now is not the time to take away vital support. For new residents, the stress of moving into an unfamiliar environment and adjusting to communal living in a refuge has been further exacerbated by having to self-isolate. The children, already dealing with multiple losses, must then deal with the loss of freedom of movement and contact with other children. The fear of the virus itself combined with all the other stressors constitutes another trauma on top of the domestic abuse and we are delighted that with Kent Community Foundation’s support we will be able to continue to provide a Support Worker for these children.”

Robert Moulsdale, Albert Burns Children's Charitable Trust Fund Trustee and Senior Partner at Boys and Maughan Solicitors said, “The trustees of the Albert Burns Children's Charitable Trust Fund were really pleased to fund a wide range of East Kent projects this February including setting up a forest school, supporting a hospice to control the spread of infection, providing physical activity and sports sessions for children, contributing towards the salary of a Child Support Worker, providing food boxes for members of the community who are shielding, funding to support deprived families in Cliftonville, help for the Newington Community Food Club, stationery and craft materials for children who receive food parcels, and support for vulnerable families at the Meadow Nursery.

“Kent Community Foundation does a marvellous job of managing the Albert Burns Children's Charitable Trust Fund and directing funding to a wide range of grassroots charities and we would urge charity leaders who need financial support to get in touch with Kent Community Foundation.”

Apply for funding here.

MASSIVE 'thank you ' to everyone at Kent Community Foundation. Your funding support is HUGELY appreciated and has enabled us to get into the heart of local communities with REAL, affordable, healthy and tasty food that does so much more than feed people.

Community chef Mike Spackman, Sheppey Matters

KCF's enthusiasm for what we are doing and hoping to do, coupled with helpful advice, gave us the confidence to take this daunting step which has paid off.

Liz Turner, Octopus Foundation

It's great having a foundation that empowers organisations and charities in our community to make real positive differences and changes!

Tom, MMK Mind