I have been looking at some of the great work Brother UK do in the community. A long standing fixture in Tameside and they never forget about the area and the residents that surround them. I spoke to Sam Johnson of Brother about the money they have been investing across a broad range of community projects and causes through the Forever Manchester fund. He said. “The Brother/ Forever Manchester fund was set up in summer 2015 and consists of a 25k pot provided by Brother to help support and encourage community groups and charities to work together in Tameside.
We distribute our fund 3 times a year where groups can apply for up to £2,000 to help support a project or ongoing work in their area. At present Brother has specific criteria that we would first and foremost like to support that being Elderly education and enterprise. The fund has been a great success, seeing up to 25k worth of applications for one panel sitting. Unfortunately at present we are unable to support all applications as we have a limit on funding but the great thing about encouraging these applications is that if they are not successful with Brother, Forever Manchester will then go on to work with them and signpost them to other corporate funding available in the borough. We have supported a variety of community groups and projects to date, everything from funding a Christmas lunch to a senior community group who work with the elderly to find seclusion and encourage friend groups to many of the local town teams who are working tirelessly to promote enterprise with their community and help bring footfall back into the local businesses that we all live and work around etc.Once applications are accepted we then offer the opportunity to colleagues at Brother to work and support these groups moving forward via our volunteering programme so not only do they have the funding required to start up but support and advice from Brother staff who very much enjoy helping on these projects.
I also spoke to Rachel Hirst of Forever Manchester and she added, “Forever Manchester is delighted to work with Brother UK to support local grassroots community activity across Tameside. Brother UK are a progressive company, deeply rooted in their local community, and our partnership has enabled both them and us to reach and support the many diverse community groups and projects which so often struggle to secure funding for their great work.” We have many worthy community groups and causes in Tameside who should be encouraged to apply for funding through these and similar schemes. You never know what’s available until you start to have a look around. If you are part of a community foundation or charity in Tameside and you fit into the criteria of Enterprise, Employment or The Elderly you may get funding through the Brother / Forever Manchester project.
Check out www.forevermanchester.com/funding for more details and an application form
