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A recent article published by Third Sector Review shows that the money available
to community foundations has doubled over the past four years.
Read the
full story.
Many local organisations, large and small, helped us to make a difference
this Christmas by purchasing their cards from our Gift Shop and making a donation
to a good cause of their choice.
Read the full press release.
The
Tony Blair Sports Foundation is launchedAs you have probably heard in the news, this week saw the launch of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which will be based in his old constituency home in Sedgefield. What you might not realise is that his Foundation is actually part of County Durham Foundation.
We were chosen by Mr Blair to offer governance and management support to his staff, who are employed by us. The Tony Blair Sports Foundation will increase participation in sport by young people, particularly those who are currently socially excluded, by inspiring more adults to become trained coaches; by providing access to training and matching coaches with sports clubs and schools.
Read the official press release.
A serial entrepreneur who has been hailed by many as a new age eco-warrior of the business world. Alex has just donated £37,500 worth of shares in a Chinese goldmine to the Foundation.
Life's
getting better in County Durham, but only for some of usLife in County Durham and Darlington is much better than
it once was….but many places, communities and individuals have been
left behind’, according to a new report commissioned by local grant
making charity County Durham Foundation from Durham University academic and
social researcher Professor Fred Robinson.
Download the research report.
Request a copy of the research report.
Read the full press release.
Sunday Times 22.07.07
After Sir Tom Hunter’s £1billion pledge to charity, an article
about the new philanthropists who are attempting to bridge the wealth gap
recently appeared in the Sunday Times praising Community Foundation's for
their ability to ‘put local donors in touch with almost any kind of
project they might wish to support’.
Read the extract
Read
the full article

On Wednesday 6th December television viewers may have seen local entrepreneur John Elliott MBE become Channel 4’s latest ‘Secret Millionaire’. The second instalment of Channel 4’s new reality TV show, ‘The Secret Millionaire’ saw John, a well-respected businessman from Crook, living off just £11 a day state benefit for a week in inner city Liverpool to find somebody whose life he could change for the better with a cheque for £50,000.
This is however just the tip of the charitable iceberg where John is concerned, as he has held a charitable fund with County Durham Foundation since 1999.
On
Friday 8th September we hosted an evening of entertainment for our fund-holders
and supporters to celebrate the end of our 10th Anniversary year.
The evening, kindly hosted by Lord Barnard, was a great success. Entertainment for the evening was provided by Durham Traditional Music Festival, Durham Johnson School Choir and Durham Chinese School. The night was brought to a close by a spectacular firework display.
Local
Entrepreneur Gives a Helping Hand to Budding Young StarGuy Readman, Chairman of Birtley based Tor Coatings Limited, has recently helped a young dancer from Durham move one step closer to achieving his dream of completing a course at the prestigious Italia Conti Stage School in London.
20-year-old Kyle Craggs has wanted to be a dancer for as long as he can remember.
His exceptional talents won him one of only 30 coverted places at the London
Stage School. However after only one year of training Kyle was in danger of
having to give up his dream due to a lack of funds.
Read full press release
Jason’s story is a remarkable one. Up until recently
Jason, aged 22, could neither read nor write. With the help of his wife and
a Global Grant, Jason discovered a real passion and talent for writing and
has now published his first book.
Click here
to read more about Jason's story and the Global Grants Programme.
Latimer
Hinks raise £4750 for County Durham FoundationOur Gold Darlington Champion, Latimer Hinks Solicitors kindly hosted a Charity Ball to raise money for two charities, we were lucky enough to be one of them, the other was ChildLine.
The evening was a huge success and a fantastic night was had by all.
Darlington Champions Boost Children's GroupA new support group to help children with Down Syndrome learn and have fun is set to expand thanks to support from the Darlington Champions. The Down Syndrome support group was set up in partnership with the national organisation Down Syndrome Educational Trust, which helps pre-school age children with Down Syndrome improve their language, reading, writing and numeracy skills.
Darlington Champions provided a grant of £7,000 to buy new equipment
and pay for specialist staff.
For more on this news item click here.
Contact Gillian
or Mel to find out how
to host a lunch in aid of Darlington Champions.
New
Parish Hall Receives Backing From Local BusinessBelmont Parish Hall Association have received a grant of £5,556 from The Banks Community Fund which is administered by the County Durham Foundation, a local grant making organisation, The grant has been used to help build a brand new community facility next to Belmont Church for the people of Belmont and Carville which replaces facilities lost to the community 13 and 20 years previously.