Twenty-three local community organisations have received a share of almost £70,000 from the Woodsmith Foundation through our Community Grants funding round.

The grants will fund community projects in the boroughs of Redcar and Cleveland, Scarborough, and the North York Moors National Park.

One of the organisations to receive funding was South Gare Litter Pickers, who used their grant to purchase more equipment to increase their capabilities.

Matt Stilwell, who leads the group said: “The equipment purchased will help us to remove waste more efficiently. The new large trolley will allow us to carry out litter removal from inaccessible places. Children’s litter pickers were also purchased with this grant as we are seeing a surge in children taking up litter picking.”

“This grant has helped to support our existing needs and ultimately is helping us grow.”

Another organisation who benefitted was Feeding and Sling Support Whitby, who will use their grant to offer volunteers more training and development in order to increase their offering to local mums.

“This grant has given us the amazing opportunity to involve our community within the development of our organisation by running an Infant Feeding Peer Supporter course for eight volunteers training with us from our community,” said Director Ilayda Gill.

“We have also been able to train one of our community members as a Babywearing Peer Supporter. This will hugely benefit the families who come along to the social group. Our peer supporters will be there to chat to families and offer evidence-based information and support. We can now provide support to even more families.”

Rebecca Wagner, Grants & Programmes Officer, said: “We love reading through all the fantastic applications we receive from local community organisations and then seeing the tangible impact this funding has on local people.

“We’re now accepting applications again and look forward to supporting many more community projects.”

The Foundation was set up to bring wider community benefits in addition to the positive economic impact of the Woodsmith Project.

Anglo American pledged a four-year, £4m funding package when it acquired the Woodsmith Project in March 2020. The Foundation distributed over £1.7million in grants in 2022.

The Community Grants funding round remains open for applications until 10am on Monday 13 November 2023