Charitable Trust / Donations 2009: Vulnerable

Beat Bullying (£25,000)
Beat Bullying is the UK's first children's charity to devise anti-bullying strategies for young people by young people.

By shaping attitudes and changing behaviours, Beat Bullying works to socialise young people and communities, to achieve a society which views bullying as unacceptable.

CAADA (£100,000)
CAADA (Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse) encourages the use of independent advocacy as a way to increase the safety of survivors of domestic violence and in particular those at high risk. This is achieved through the delivery of services directly to advocacy projects, their local multi-agency partners and also through work with funders, policy advisors and government. We completed our second year of three-years' funding to support CAADA in creating and evaluating a model to deal with domestic violence which can then be adopted by government.

Maytree Respite Centre (£20,000)
Maytree is a refuge for people in extreme suicidal distress and despair. During a single, short stay of up to four nights they can offer support and befriending to help people get through a crisis.

First Step Trust (£25,000)
First Step Trust was established to provide real work experience and employment opportunities for people with mental health problems and other disadvantages. These people form the voluntary workforce, working in small social enterprise projects and the main office.

All are long-term unemployed, some never having worked at all due to their mental health problems. The Trust offers the opportunity to learn new skills, occupy the day, meet new friends, regain lost self-respect and develop a future.

Advance (£20,000)
Advance has two advocacy projects which provide 24-hour immediate crisis responses to survivors of domestic violence living within the London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham and Brent. They conduct risk assessments, safety planning and offer information, support and advice to survivors of intimate partner violence.

Community Service Volunteers (RSVP) (£30,000)
RSVP, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme is a free standing programme within Community Service Volunteers which looks to encourage the growing number 50+ year olds to participate in their local area, tapping into the wide range of skills and experience of mature people, and putting them to work for the benefit of all.

Crisis (£21,600)
A donation was made to Crisis, the national homeless charity, to participate in the 2008 Christmas Card Challenge Campaign.

Crisis fights homelessness and empowers homeless people to fulfil their potential and transform their lives.

TreeHouse (£250,000)
We completed our third year of four-years' funding (£1 million in total) to TreeHouse – the national charity for autism education.

As well as meeting the needs of autistic children in north London, TreeHouse exists to demonstrate how its model of intensive education can help children with autism become more independent and make a positive contribution to their community, and reduce their need for financial support.

TreeHouse's new National Centre for Autism Education was completed in October 2008, providing a permanent home for the flagship school and securing the education of current and future pupils. The centre is also the base for TreeHouse's training, research, support and outreach work.

Core Arts (£25,000)
Core Arts exists to promote freely and without prejudice, the artistic and creative abilities of people who experience severe and enduring mental health problems.

Core Arts provides an environment in which members are able to express themselves and their ideas and know they will be heard and respected. Social Enterprises and Social Firms are also used to offer new opportunities for individuals to become economically independent.

Trinity Centre (£25,000)
The Trinity Centre is an Ecumenical Community Centre that provides educational, recreational and welfare services to local people in Newham, London.

The Mental Health Foundation (£25,000)
The Mental Health Foundation helps people survive, recover from and avoid future mental health problems. It uses its research to develop better services, influence policy and raise public awareness.

Whizz-Kidz (£20,000)
A donation of £20,000 was made to Whizz-Kidz as runners-up in the final Annual Charity 2008 shortlist.

Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre (£20,000)
Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy is a charitable foundation which provides tens of thousands of music therapy sessions each year to children and adults in need. Those who benefit from music therapy have a variety of needs such as learning difficulties, autism, emotional and behavioural problems, dementia and trauma.

Changing Faces (£25,000)
Changing Faces enables children, young people and adults who have facial disfigurements, as well as their families, to access professional support and information. Changing Faces' work is underpinned by academic research and evaluation which aims to understand the psychological and social problems faced by people with disfigurements in order to develop appropriate ways of meeting them.

Community Links (£49,716)
Community Links is an innovative charity running community-based projects in east London. Community Links helps thousands of vulnerable children, young people and adults every year, with most of its work delivered in Newham, a borough which ranks highly on the index of deprivation.Community Links successes influence both community-based organisations nationwide and government policy.

RAPt (£20,000)
RAPt (The Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) aims to provide rehabilitation services to men and women caught up in the criminal justice system, that help them to turn their lives around, and thereby contribute to improved personal relationships, social integration and a reduction in criminal activity.

Age Concern – Lewisham & Southwark (£20,000)
Age Concern Lewisham & Southwark is an independent charity which provides a range of services and five day centre programmes for older people. The charity also campaigns on issues that affect older people, such as age discrimination, transport and housing.

The Prince's Charities Foundation (City Salute) (£200,000)
We made a donation of £200,000 towards the City Salute Appeal, a sunset pageant at St Paul's Cathedral organised to celebrate and support the UK armed forces and their families and to raise money for injured servicemen and women. The beneficiaries of the appeal were Help for Heroes and SSAFA.

Contact the Elderly (£25,000)
Contact the Elderly helps people aged 75 or older who are lonely, live at home on their own and are unable to easily get out of the house unaided. Small local groups use volunteer drivers who each pick up one or two elderly people from their own homes. They take them to the home of a volunteer host where the volunteers and older people spend a few hours together with afternoon tea, usually on a Sunday. Each group normally meets once a month, welcomed into the homes of different hosts.

Action on Elder Abuse (£25,000)
Action on Elder Abuse is a national charity which aims to protect, and prevent the abuse of, vulnerable older people. It does this by raising awareness of the issues, encouraging education and by giving information and support to those in need. It has the only national freephone helpline dedicated to this cause and is seeking an environment in which the abuse of older people is no longer tolerated.

Tower Hamlets Friends & Neighbours (£20,000)
Tower Hamlets Friends & Neighbours provides support for older people who are socially isolated, lonely, housebound, frail or with mobility problems. Befriending workers or volunteers provide regular visits to people's own homes or to residential care homes, offering listening support, companionship, help with tasks such as prescription collection or arranging appointments and at certain times of the year offer escorted shopping trips and outings.