Wynyard, UK – 40 community groups across the North East have won a share of an £11,500 prize pot from the Venator Community Fund.
The Venator Community Fund has now awarded over £60,000 to schools, community groups and charities across the region since it was established in 2018. In 2022, numerous charities and community groups from around the North East region applied to win a grant.
This year, Venator offered a top award of £1,000 to the application that received the most public votes in an online poll, with £750 and £500 awarded to the second and third placed projects. Another 37 winners each received a grant of £250.
Groups were invited to apply online and propose, in no more than 250 words, how their group would use the funding to support teamwork and innovation in their community.
A total of 102 applications made it to the voting stage which ran from Monday 13th June until Thursday 7th July and over 30,000 public votes were cast.
The top prize of £1,000 went to Nite Light CIC with 2,531 votes. The second prize of £750 went to Community Kids Club in South Tyneside with 2,289 votes, and a third prize of £500 went to Bishop Auckland Netball Club with 2,277 votes.
Nadia Gibany, Director of Nite Light CIC, which is a digital pay forward scheme providing food and drinks to people who need it most in Teesside, said: “We are delighted to have won the top grant of £1,000 which will help our wonderful volunteers continue to support the most vulnerable within our communities.
“Training will be organised to increase knowledge, health and safety and inspire innovation by increasing confidence to move into other areas and have a greater reach of service users.”
Maxine Thompson, Director of Community Kids Club, said: “We are overjoyed to receive a grant from the Venator Community Fund and can’t wait to start our project. The children have some amazing ideas, starting with an outdoor book box.”
Jess Bell, Chair and Coach at Bishop Auckland Netball Club, said: Winning one of the community grants will massively benefit the club, boost the confidence of our players, as well as bring a sense of team spirit to the teams we currently have.”
Karen Fenwick, Vice President Corporate Branding and Communications at Venator, said: “We’re pleased to announce the winners of the Community Fund for 2022 who share our values of teamwork and innovation.
“It’s a pleasure to have seen so many worthy entries from scores of sports clubs, groups, charities and schools that do such tremendous work in their communities – and we’re delighted to reward them with a grant.”
Venator is a New York Stock Exchange listed business with its global HQ at Wynyard. The company established its Community Fund in 2018 to support the communities where its employees live and work.