LCP’s Foundation has announced it has given £70,000 to eight charities to help them carry on delivering vital services during the current challenging times.

Many charities are facing a funding crunch at the same time as their services are in high demand.

The Foundation, which gives direct grants to charities as well as matched funding for staff members raising money for good causes, asked staff and partners across the firm to vote for six charities they wanted to benefit from a donation of £50,000. The total figure was split amongst the six charities in line with their voting share.

The charities receiving donations are:

Hubbub design and create campaigns to create positive environmental change. The donation will help the charity expand their network of community fridges where surplus food is shared within a local community by businesses and individuals.

Missing People is the only charity in the UK which is dedicated to bringing missing children and adults back together with their families.

Mental Health Foundation is a charity that exists to help understand, protect and sustain people’s mental health. The donation will enable them to provide mental health awareness resources to over 50 schools, reaching more than 10,000 young people.

Rose Road Association supports children and young adults with disabilities in Hampshire.

SCRATCH is a Southampton charity that exists to alleviate poverty in the region. The donation will be used to help cover the cost of furniture packages for families and to help buy kitchen essentials such as kettles and toasters.

Hampshire Search and Rescue is a voluntary organisation that provides round the clock cover to assist the police and other agencies to search for vulnerable missing persons.

The Foundation also gave £10,000 each to the two homeless charities that the firm already supports, West London Mission and Trinity Winchester.

LCP’s Foundation was established last year. Alongside the direct charity grants, in its first year, the Foundation:

• Paid matching donations of between £188 and £2,455 to 29 causes from 36 staff and partner fundraising applications. In total £30,000 was match funded. 
• Funded the partnering with the social enterprise, Benefacto which allows us to expand the volunteering opportunities available to all at LCP.

The Foundation has another £150,000 approved by LCP’s board for the next year to spend on direct grants, volunteering and fundraising activities.

Edward Symes, Chair of the Foundation Committee, commented: “The pandemic has been a challenging time for everybody, but as a firm we are acutely aware that charities are particularly feeling the financial pinch at a time when their services are increasingly in demand. That’s why we decided to make grants to charities that are close to the hearts of LCP’s workforce.

It’s great to see a wide range of causes that will benefit from these donations and we were also pleased to be able to give some extra help to the two homeless charities that we partner with.”