Our Responsive Grants Programme
Maximising our impact on local community needs
We fund a wide range of community activities that recognise the diversity of local needs so that everyone can benefit from our funding. Using evidence and learning we prioritise support for initiatives that are most likely to make a difference to more local people. Last year we gave almost £1.2 million in new grants and reached over 60,000 beneficiaries from all over Bedford Borough
29,000
adults
27,000
children and young people
4,000
people aged 60+
6,000
people with a disability
As place-based grantmakers, we also worked hard to find a balance between:
Funding a wide range of
community activities
that recognise the diversity of local needs so that everyone can benefit.
Using evidence and learning to ensure we prioritise support to initiatives that are most likely to make a difference to more
local people
Our Community Needs
- 25% of children in Bedford live in low income families, with 74% of those families being working families. 690 children in Bedford live in homes with no central heating.
- We spent £156,000 on projects supporting people facing poverty and disadvantage, one of our priority areas.
- Bedford is growing quickly; the population grew by almost 18% in the 10 years before the last census and there is more to come. It’s one of the most diverse non-metropolitan areas in the country in proportion to its size.
- We spent £241,000 on grants that aim to keep people in Bedford connected, supported and included through our stronger communities priority area.
Bedford’s Diverse Community
Our grants come into 6 broad categories responding to local need. We spent:
ISSUE: Bedford saw a 19% increase in violent and sexual offences over the last year.
supporting victims of crime, young people at risk of criminal exploitation and people involved in the criminal justice system
ISSUE: Suicide rates in Bedford have remained above the national average for more than a decade
supporting local residents with their mental health.
ISSUE: Healthy Life expectancy in Bedford is declining and is below the average for the East of England.
supporting health and wellbeing.
ISSUE: Bedford has significant gaps in educational attainment between those on free school meals and their peers.
supporting education and training programmes.
ISSUE: Bedford has more than double the number of households in temporary accommodation than the national average.
supporting homeless people and those in housing need.
In Bedford, 28% of people from lower socio-economic groups are inactive compared to 13% of people from higher socio-economic groups.
Supporting sport and recreation with a social welfare purpose.
Our grants impact
We make grants big and small to support a wide variety of projects reflecting the rich diversity of our community. Put together they help create a resilient and inclusive community, rich in opportunity. These examples give an insight into the difference our grants make.
THE ISSUE
Figures show 33% of people from Asian backgrounds in Bedford are inactive compared to 19% of white British people. 1 in 4 children leave primary school obese or overweight. Some people feel the Borough’s wide range of sports clubs aren’t for “people like me.”
HOW WE HELPED
Sailing is traditionally seen as a pursuit of the white middle classes. Priory Sailing Club, based in Bedford’s Priory Park, wanted to change this and worked with Queen’s Park Academy to give 24 pupils a chance to try sailing. Queen’s Park is the ward with the highest percentage of non-white British residents and the highest population density for people under 16. We funded a half day introduction to sailing session, including transport from Queen’s Park.
A small grant of just £540 made an incredible difference to the health, connections and aspiration of this group of young people – a number of children fell in love with the sport and were given club membership, attending once a week.
This year
5,650 people
benefitted from inclusive sporting activities like this through our grants.
THE ISSUE
Bedford is right in the middle when local authority areas are ranked by deprivation. But 5 areas of Bedford are in the 10% of the most deprived in the country; 12 more in the 20% most deprived. Queen’s Park is one area which has become more deprived in the past five years.
HOW WE HELPED
Queen’s Park Community Organisation (QPCO) supports people who are socially and economically disadvantaged for a wide range of interconnected reasons. A grant of £58,822 over two years helped them to carry out complex case work with 70 vulnerable people and their families. Over half the people they helped had severe financial problems but most experienced a wide range of other intersecting issues, including education issues, housing and domestic abuse.
THE ISSUE
Mental Health needs are rising across the country. Sadly, Bedford’s suicide rates are higher than the national and regional average.
HOW WE HELPED
We funded mental health Community Interest Company CHUMS to provide a support service for people impacted by this devastating from of bereavement. Last year they supported 59 people from Bedford who had lost someone in this shocking way, including 19 children and young people. They provided therapy, support groups and guidance through practical issues such as dealing with inquests.
This year our grants supported
6,690 people
people to manage specific mental health issues.
FUTURE PLANS
Our focus for grantmaking is on growing and sharing learning about our community and what works best to make positive change for the people of Bedford. Last year we launched a new grants strategy with clear priority areas and categories. We’re now working with our grantees to create systems for measuring and sharing the impact we’re making, both individually and collectively, on the key issues facing the community. We’ll work with partners to bring local community groups together and discuss best practice and new ideas. Essential to this is the voice of the people of Bedford, so we’re collaborating with Bedford Giving on a large-scale consultation with local citizens to inform our future plans. We’re excited to embark on another year of shared learning!
MORE IMPACT
Our schools deliver substantial public benefit by maximising access to our facilities and expertise to further our charitable objects. The largest area of public benefit through our schools is the provision of means-tested bursaries to help lower-income families pay all or part of their school fees. Find out more in the links below.
Our mission is to nurture potential and improve people’s lives. Our strategy, Together for Bedford, commits us to enabling more children and young people facing disadvantage to achieve their potential, to provide high quality education with an impactful bursary programme, and to maximise our impact on the community in Bedford. Find out more below about how we have achieved these aims in 2024-25.
More children and young people facing disadvantage achieve their potential
Our Accelerator Programme aims to enable more children aged 0-11 eligible for Free School Meals to reach the expected standard. We also host Bedford Giving, a collaboration to bring together the whole community to support children and young people in Bedford.
High quality education with impactful bursaries
For more than 400 years, we’ve helped generations of young people in Bedford to unlock their promise and embrace their moment to shine.
Maximum impact on community needs
Each year, we award £1m+ in grants, giving a diverse range of community groups the resources they need to tackle issues and seize opportunities.
University Bursaries and Uniform Grants
We provided £50 vouchers to 416 families to spend on uniform with a child eligible for free school meals and entering secondary school, our largest ever total!
Our Schools’ Public Benefit
Students and staff from our four schools deliver substantial public benefit to local schools and the wider community to further our charitable objects, by maximising access to our facilities, providing arts and culture enrichment, science outreach activities, career and leadership events, supporting subject learning in local schools, as well as taking part in volunteering and fundraising for local charities.