THE COMMUNITY will benefit from more than £285,000 worth of grants awarded by Stratford Town Trust.
The largest grant of £50,000 went to the Shakespeare Hospice, bringing the total awarded by the trust to the hospice since 2001 to just under £840,000.
The latest grant will support the hospice and its services supporting patients at home, and help to fund a 12-month pilot project, providing rehabilitation for cancer survivors.
The Shakespeare Hospice currently provides palliative and support care to 1,000 patients and their families, via its patient and family support services and in the local community through Hospice at Home.
The Children and Young People’s Service provides support for bereaved children and young carers, as well as a transitional care service for those between 16 to 24 with life limiting illness.
Hospice chief executive Angie Arnold said: “As the Shakespeare Hospice only receives around five per cent of funding from the NHS, we need to raise £2million each year to continue providing the high-quality care for which we are renowned.
“We are delighted to have been awarded a grant of £50,000 from Stratford Town Trust.”
Stratford School received the second largest amount of £40,00 to support a refurbishment and upgrade of the Jubilee Athletics Track.
School spokeswoman Valerie Hopkins said: “We are very grateful to the town trust for their generosity in awarding a grant towards the cost of refurbishment and improvements to the all-weather 400 metre track at Stratford School. The track is used by local schools, Stratford Athletics Club, and the wider community, and we are thrilled to now be able to plan for the improvements.”
Lifespace Trust, the youth mentoring charity, received £20,000 to support its work with young people, with a further £20,000 being granted to Stratford District Council to support UBUS, the community transport service, and the Link Music Project, providing activities for some of the town’s most vulnerable adults.
And £15,000 is being awarded to the Stratford branch of the Royal British Legion, to support the refurbishment of its club in Bull Street, and £15,000 also went to the Stratford Thunderbirds Netball Club, which has 150 members.
Stratford Foodbank received £12,000 to support the ever-growing demand for its service, while Heart of England Mencap received £10,000 to support activities for local people with learning disabilities.
Smaller grants included £2,500 to Stratford Town Girls Football Club to buy portable lightweight goals, and £813 for the Central England Lipreading Support Trust to support its new Stratford group.
In total, 23 grants were awarded totalling £285,425.
