Here at Red Kite, we’re proud to say we support our local community through grant funding. We have two funding routes to give applicants the opportunity they need to realise their potential - Starting Blocks and Springboard.
Starting Blocks offers support to individuals and entrepreneurs through smaller grants of up to £2,000. These can be used to help them set up businesses, projects or events that would benefit the local community. Springboard provides larger grants to charities or groups that play a vital role in supporting our community - the average grant awarded from Springboard to successful applicants since it launched in 2018 is £7,000.
Recently, Emma Mayo, our Communications Specialist, tagged along to a Springboard applicant’s show and tell session with three of our involved tenants, Adrian, Richard and Ron.
These sessions can be held as part of the approval process, so applicants can showcase the work they do and hopefully improve their chances of successfully receiving funding.
The session Emma attended was with The Life Experience Education Programme (LEEP), based in High Wycombe, where their goal was to receive funding to enable them to deliver sessions to schools and young people to talk about taking risks safely. The sessions include stories, videos and even a martial arts workshop. One of LEEP’s goals is to offer this safety presentation to schools and youth clubs for free so the message can be spread as far as possible.
Emma said, “It was really great to be there in person and see the organisation’s ideas become reality. Due to the nature of the session, it made perfect sense to watch a live presentation and see how it was perceived. The founders Michael and Suzie were both so knowledgeable and passionate about taking smart risks and were amazing with the children present.
"Michael shared his personal injury story and turned it into an inspiration for everyone who was there, making us all think about the decisions we make every day. By the end of the session, everyone was up on their feet getting involved in a martial arts workshop to demonstrate the importance of safety when taking risks.
"It was also great to be able to get to know some of our involved tenants and hear the brilliant questions they had for the applicants – they really have become funding experts! I can’t wait to see how LEEP gets on in the future.”
We’re happy to announce that The Life Experience Education Programme was successful in their application and have secured funding of £5,000. They can now continue their mission to spread safety awareness across High Wycombe and beyond.
Suzie Buckley from LEEP has said, “We believe that the whole community can benefit from LEEP. Making young people aware of the risks around and helping them to navigate them will prevent injuries, possibly save lives and encourage more positive involvement in organised sports and activities for future health, both physically and mentally.
"The very hot weeks this year saw a rise in incidents and fatalities along the Thames. It was a conversation with Bucks Search & Rescue’s Water Safety Awareness Patrol team that prompted us to push for the programme to be active as soon as possible. LEEP will cover such things as road and water safety, hopefully having a positive effect on the pressure on the emergency services and helping organisations that wish to raise awareness.”
If you’re interested in reading more about the different funding we offer or have an idea we can help make a reality, check out our community funding web page!
