Recent grants
The figures for grants represent the total amounts actually paid when this list was last revised in June 2008.
For further details on these and other projects funded by MHF see also 'Funding Policy Change for a better society in the North East of England, a report on grant-making 1996-2004'. The PDF version can be downloaded from this page. Requests for copies of publications or for other information should be made direct to projects by phone or email.
Age Concern North East
£30,000 (2008/09) for regional policy work
The nine Age Concerns in the North East are working together to develop a policy resource to coordinate Age Concern’s contribution to policy in the region, prioritising issues around employment and equalities and ‘age-proofing’ regional strategies. Communication has been developed with key regional authorities and agencies and with the media. The main objective of the post of policy officer, which is funded by the grant, is to enable representation of older people’s needs and issues at regional level and to feed their concerns into the national policy work of Age Concern England.
Tel: 0191 235 9922
Email: Neil.Shashoua@ACE.org.uk
Website: www.ageconcern.org.uk
Church Action on Poverty, North East - Images for Change
£23,025 (2006/08) towards project costs
This project has its origins in an event on Poverty Action Sunday 2005. It has enabled people living in communities along the north and south banks of the River Tyne to use photography as a tool to gain a more powerful voice in the changes taking place in their areas. The project culminated in a special event at Church Action on Poverty's national AGM, held in Gateshead in November 2007. There were impressive displays of photographs taken by groups in five riverside areas of the Tyne, and presentations of issues raised at local community events. A panel discussion included the Director of the Government Office for the North East and the Leader of the City Council. The event was attended by MPs, Councillors and officers and representatives of voluntary and community organisations, as well as by a large number of community activists. CAPNE have subsequently been successful in arranging an ongoing series of meetings with MPs, Government Office North East, ONE North East, local Councillors and officers. Nationally CAP is hoping to meet with Ministers and advisers to bring their attention to the findings of the project. With further modest support from MHF it is planned to extend the project to involve young people in the riverside areas. A report is available on the work of the project between February 2006 and November 2007.
Tel: 0191 272 2962
Email: patpen@blueyonder.co.uk
Website: www.church-poverty.org.uk
Institute for Public Policy Research, ippr north
£330,000 (2003/09) for development and core costs, £6,700 (2005) for conference on environmental justice
After a six months development phase funded by MHF in 2003, MHF and the Northern Rock Foundation approved grants to meet the core costs of ippr north between 2003 and 2006. In May 2006 both foundations agreed to continue support for ippr north for a further three years (2006-9). The core objectives of ippr north are to scrutinise public policy decisions affecting the North, to promote innovative and imaginative contributions to public policy and to help deepen democratic engagement. ippr north is developing a programme of research, seminars and publications to highlight key regional issues and enable input from the North East to national policy. A conference on environmental justice, organised by ippr north and Friends of the Earth, was held in Sunderland in September 2005. The Board of ippr north, established to provide support, leadership and strategic direction, is chaired by Lord David Puttnam.
Tel: 0191 211 2645
Email: north@ippr.org
Website: www.ippr.org/north
Living Streets
£30,000 (2007/09) towards the salary of a North East Coordinator
Living Streets is a national agency concerned with improving streets and public spaces for people on foot. The North East project is intended to influence policy and achieve change, particularly by promoting the use of public space to tackle deprivation and social exclusion. The staff support local branches in development of local action. Contributions have been made on issues such as access, planning and walkability. Following a wide consultation, a North East Charter has been produced. Special emphasis is being given to tackling parking on pavements, improving mobility and opportunities for exercise for older people, and building the capacity of local groups.The project is also funded by Northern Rock Foundation and Newcastle City Council.
Tel: 0191 245 7326
Email: cynthia.games@livingstreets.org.uk
Website: www.livingstreets.org.uk
Mental Health North East
£5,000 (2008) for consultations and related support costs
Mental Health North East is a consortium of more than 40 mental health groups in the voluntary and community sector. The grant enabled extensive consultation with these groups, which range from large service providers to small advocacy groups. A further grant from MHF in 2008/09 will fund a two year project using consultants to undertake studies a) to assess the effects of the introduction of personalised budgets and b) to examine the strengths and weaknesses of voluntary sector mental health services and how they are perceived by public sector agencies.
Tel: 0191 549 6500
Email: lbc@mentalhealthcare.co.uk
Website: www.mhne.co.uk
Newcastle Healthy City Project, BAN Waste Group
£43,000 (2000/04) for running costs, including employment of a support worker, engagement of public relations consultants, and reports
Following Newcastle City Council's positive response to BAN Waste's final Select Committee report, the Council, under Liberal Democrat control, produced a forward-looking Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan. The Council is committed to consultation and to an ongoing partnership with BAN Waste.
Tel: 0191 232 3357
Email: enquiries@banwaste.org.uk
Website: www.banwaste.org.uk
Prison Reform Trust, Smart Justice Campaign
£107,493 (2004/2008) for employment of a part-time North East campaign officer
Smart Justice, based at the Prison Reform Trust in London, aims to promote alternatives to custody. In 2003 it was decided to develop work at regional level. A campaign officer was appointed and an office was established in Durham. The NE campaign was formally launched by Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough, at a gathering in Durham in September 2004. The 'Smart Justice for Women' campaign, which ran nationally and in the North East in 2005, undoubtedly influenced the conclusions of the recent Corston Report and its recommendation that women’s prisons should be phased out and replaced with small local secure units. This campaign was followed in May 2006 by 'Smart Justice for Young People'>. Work funded by the Arts Council and undertaken in association with Helix Arts during the campaign was presented at several functions, including a conference at the Sage, Gateshead in October 2006, at which a DVD was shown which had been made by the young people themselves. The conference was addressed by the Rt Hon.Hilary Armstrong MP. These campaigns have achieved considerable coverage in the regional media. MHF and the Northern Rock Foundation have approved further funding for Smart Justice North East to continue until the end of 2008. It is intended to write up the experience of the North East campaign
Tel: 0191 384 8241
Email: yvonne.collins@smartjustice.org
Website: www.smartjustice.org
Regional Refugee Forum North East
£29,923 (2007/08) for support for the Expert Groups Project
The Forum, which is linked with similar bodies in other parts of the UK, has developed as an independent body for promoting the collective voice of the region's refugee community. Its membership consists of more than 40 refugee community groups in the North East. The Expert Groups Project involves individual refugees in a three-year programme of representation to regional bodies, local authorities, the Health Service and other key agencies, regarding issues which affect the refugee community as a whole, particularly housing, health, education, community and child safety, equality, community cohesion and integration.
Tel: 0191 423 6255
Email: georgina.fletcher@refugeevoices.org.uk
Website: www.refugeevoices.org.uk
St Chad's College, University of Durham (Professor Fred Robinson)
£37,400 (2006/08) for a report Never Had It So Good? - the North East under New Labour 1997-2007, and for follow-up discussions
This study, which was published to coincide with the government’s tenth anniversary, received wide media coverage when it was launched in May 2007. It assesses how the region has changed over the last ten years and provides a comprehensive analysis of ‘where we are now’. It concludes that there is still a ‘North-South Divide’ and that there are also great divides and differences within the region. Five overarching themes are identified: economic development; cultural change; the well-being of young people; challenges of an ageing population; and the implications of climate change. The report provides the basis for informed debate about the development of the region with those who should be most concerned about the ‘widening gap’ and other inequalities. In 2007 a further grant was approved towards the costs of arranging a series of 'round-tables' for follow-up discussion of the findings of the report, in particular those relating to the economy of the region, climate change, health and young people. The round-tables, held at St Chad's College, bring representatives from all sectors together with regional policy-makers. These discussions are being independently written up and will be published in the Northern Economic Review.
Tel: 0191 334 3361
Email: j.f.robinson@durham.ac.uk
Website: http://www.dur.ac.uk/StChads
Voluntary Organisations Network North East
£20,000 (2004/7) towards the costs of the Invest 2006 campaign, £9,683 (2006) for follow-up to Invest 2006 and to strengthen VONNE's policy and representational roles
Invest 2006 was set up to respond to the challenges faced by the voluntary and community sector (VCS) as a result of changes in funding following the enlargement of the EU and other reductions in public funds. Northern Rock Foundation and the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland also provided grants for the campaign. The Government Office for the North East (GO-NE) responded by establishing a regional Task Force. In December 2005 the Government' national Task Force visited the region to hear the views of members of the regional Task Force, campaign leaders and some of the organisations affected. When the campaign closed in April 2006, although it had not succeeded in its aim of securing replacement for all of the funds which it was estimated the VCS might lose, it had considerably raised the sector's profile and had energetically promoted its needs to government departments and politicians. The campaign steering group and VONNE agreed there was work to be done to follow up the campaign and to develop VONNE's policy and representational role. MHF, Northern Rock Foundation and the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland co-funded a further phase of work to the end of 2006.
Tel: 0191 233 2000
Email: vonne@vonne.org.uk
Website: www.vonne.org.uk