At the start of 2024, the Charles Plater Trust (CPT) is excited about the opportunities for positive change in the year ahead. With a general election looming and charities finding new ways to rise to the challenges faced by the communities they represent, change is inevitable.
The Trust manager, Philomena Cullen, explains:
“With 35 active charity partnerships in place right now, and with the successful launch of our 2024 large grants round on 11th January 2024, we at the CPT are genuinely excited about our plans to make a difference this year.
The more we see our funded work in action, the more we realise that seemingly intractable problems can be tackled.
Whether this is through pioneering new services like at PACT with their specialist educational worker in schools to ensure that adjustments are made so that adopted children can thrive in the classroom, or by strengthening charities like St Wilfrid’s to develop new vulnerability measures in a bespoke database so that they can evidence the impact their support makes, our funding really does make a difference to individuals and to the sector. It’s constantly humbling to work with such committed partners and resilient communities of people.”
Yet, as organisations like the Association of Charitable Foundations that CPT is a member of, argue, charities have increasingly been stepping into the breach to meet basic needs and cover services no longer funded by central or local government. Those charities filling the gap, especially smaller ones, are facing heightened challenges themselves. And all of this leads to an ever-increasing demand on foundations like the CPT for funding.
As Philomena Cullen explains:
“The CPT knows that it has an important role to play to help cover funding gaps. But last year we had more than three times the number of applications for our funding than in the previous year. The worst part of what we sometimes have to do, is to turn down good quality proposals because of how limited our funding is. Our trustees have made the brave decision to use our capital, not just our investment income, so that we can do the maximum we are able to support charities and fragile communities. But the increasing demand we are seeing is just not sustainable. We’re keenly aware that it’s just not fair that already burdened frontline charities face diminishing odds of success for grants with funders like us.”
The CPT would be keen to hear from anyone who might like to be a funding partner with them in the support they offer to charities this year. Please contact the Trust Manager for a conversation about the opportunities.
