Over £96K in Grants Given to Local Charities Supporting Residents through the Covid-19 Pandemic

August 2020: A special fund made available by The Prince Philip Trust Fund to help charities and projects in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to support residents through the Coronavirus pandemic has now closed having issued a total of £96,795 in grant funds.

In May this year £57,500 was given out to 28 successful applications for financial support in relation to their Covid-19 related work in the borough. In the second extraordinary virtual meeting of the Board of Trustees held in July, chaired by HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, £39,275 was allocated to 20 separate charitable organisations and projects for their work to support residents during the pandemic.

The Thames Valley Adventure Playground in Taplow who provides specialist indoor and outdoor recreational and learning opportunities for children, teenagers and adults with special needs, have received a grant of £2,000. The Louis Baylis Trust match funded this grant which together has meant that the charity has been able to meet over 50% of its costs of re-opening the site in line with new Covid-secure guidelines.

Other organisations that received funds from The Prince Philip Trust Fund include Thames Hospice, with funds to buy two oxygen concentrators; Chattertots, who now are able to provide their speech and language therapy for children with Down Syndrome online; and the Autism Group based in Maidenhead, supported to buy new technology in order to help young, local people with autism.

Counselling and support services such as No 22 Youth Counselling, Citizens Advice Bureau in Bracknell and District, Family Friends, The Dash Charity and Relate – who have all seen a significant increase in demand for their services during the pandemic – have also benefited from this round of funding.

In addition, arts organisations who are transforming their services to be available online during this time – such as Norden Farm, Maidenhead Drama Guild and Windsor Festival – have all received recent grant funding to support their work.

The Covid-19 Relief Fund, which was made available by the The Prince Philip Trust Fund in April this year by drawing down upon capital reserves, has now been brought to a close and the Trust Fund are now accepting applications from charities and good causes that meet their usual broad criteria supporting those promoting sports and health initiatives, helping children and young people, supporting the elderly and those in social need, and promoting and increasing accessibility to the arts.

Ross Wilson, Treasurer and Trustee of the charity said:

“The last five months has been a challenging and worrying time for most, but for some local residents and their families it has been extremely difficult whether dealing with food insecurity, to lack of access to services, to facing loss of earnings, to isolation and loneliness.

And the way in which our community has rallied around to help – whether it is from reorienting their services online or rising to the increased demand for their services, or getting essential supplies to those in need – has been truly inspirational. On behalf of my fellow Trustees, we are glad that we have been able to play our part and make this special Covid-19 Relief Fund available to support the residents of the Royal Borough during this difficult time.”

Applications are now open and can be made here to receive non Covid-19 funding requests and the Board of Trustees will now meet again in November to allocate funds.