County Durham Community Foundation

Charity Details
Full Name: County Durham Community Foundation  
Founded: 1995
Type: Community
Where Operates: County Durham
Headquarters: Durham, DH7 8XL
Charity No: 1047625

History and Activities

The founding principle of the County Durham Community Foundation (CDCF) is “life-changing philanthropy that makes a lasting difference to the people of County Durham and enables all member of society to achieve their potential, whilst at the same time supporting the growth and prosperity of the region.” Since its inception in 1995, the foundation has made £38.6 million worth of grants. This figure is all the more significant because County Durham is one of the less wealthy counties in the UK. 

The foundation was established by Sir Paul Nicholson and David Grant, who raised £1 million to set the ball rolling. The William Leech Charitable Trust and the Barbour Foundation, amongst others, then provided matched funding, and in 1995, only a year before his election to Prime Minister, Tony Blair was appointed as one of the foundations inaugural vice-presidents. Sir Paul continues to serve as the President of the Foundation.

Just over two decades later, the Foundation has more than 221 funds established to support its grantmaking, including 136 endowment funds. CDFC is currently chaired by James Fenwick and led by CEO Dr Michelle Cooper, who oversaw the distribution of near £5 million in grants in 2017/18, the highest ever grant-making year in the foundation’s history. The foundation has the advantage of one of the largest endowments in the country, standing at £13,245,035 on 31 March 2018. It aspires to grow the endowment further to £20 million by the end of 2020/21.

Of the total of £4,813,830 paid out in grants in 2017/18, 37.8% was expended in supporting community groups dealing with issues such as poverty and social deprivation, homelessness, caring for the elderly and disabled, substance abuse, and sport and recreation. The next largest spend, 36.8% of the total, was to organizations engaged in supporting employment, skills and economic development, stemming from the foundation’s partnership with Durham County Council through the EU funded Durham Works programme, which has seen over 550 young people supported into local employment since its inception. Of the remaining grant expenditure, health and wellbeing received 12.8% of the total, arts, culture and heritage 6.7%, environmental causes 4.3%, and education and training 1.6%.

Vital Statistics (year to 31/03/2018)

Website
http://www.cdcf.org.uk/

References