Uncategorized – Michael Guest Charitable Foundation

Having been established in 2013, the Michael Guest Charitable Foundation is, this year, celebrating its 10th anniversary of supporting charitable causes through grant making.

In March, our Trustees decided to celebrate this anniversary by celebrating the incredible volunteers that enable the charities we support to do their important work, providing essential resources to disadvantaged communities and empowering local people. Therefore, £1,000 of each grant made was dedicated to providing the volunteers of each charity to a meal, activity, or treat of their choice. Below are some photos and stories of how some local charities have used this funding so far.

The incredible Kettering Food Bank volunteers enjoyed a meal at Frank’s pizza and sent us this lovely photo (above). Kettering Food Bank provides food, sanitary items, and other essentials to families across Kettering, having issued 6408 meals in September 2023, supporting those in need through the cost of living crisis. This wonderful team work to gather items, organise them, and ensure that local people receive the support and nourishment that they need.

In October, Cransley Hospice hosted their own celebration event, with the support of the Michael Guest Charitable Foundation, to show their appreciation for their inspiring staff and volunteers. They enjoyed an afternoon of sandwiches, tea, cake, and conversation, alongside acknowledging volunteers’ outstanding contributions with well-deserved awards.

The Michael Guest Charitable Foundation is committed to celebrating the kindness and dedication of all the volunteers that bring our grantees’ work to life, and look forward to sharing more stories of how local charities are showing their appreciation for their volunteers.

At the end of July, our Chair of Trustees, Hannah, was lucky enough to visit some of our most recent grantees to check out what they had been up to. Below is a summary of some of our visits and local charities that have received grants so far in 2023.

The Green Patch – Groundworks Northants

The Green Patch is a community garden in Kettering hosting free volunteer days, children’s clubs, wellbeing support and family fun, creating space for the community to come together and enjoy nature. In July, we went along to their Wellbeing Fair and Fun Day to chat to some of the people benefitting from the garden, say hello to some of the animals, and enjoy the lovely flowers and produce grown by the volunteers! By getting to know some of the team, we also learned that they are fundraising to install a safer, more accessible flooring to their poly-tunnels (photographed below), and we hope that our support can help to make this a reality.

Between the yummy treats, towering sunflowers, and buzzing atmosphere, we had a wonderful day!

Kettering Food Bank

In July, we also went along to Kettering Food Bank to understand a little more about the challenges they are facing, the demand for food banks in rise of the cost of living crisis, and how the volunteers are involved in their work. We learned the monthly cost of supplying local families with basic food, and that they also supply essential hygiene products to those in need.

A special thanks to volunteer, Jane, who has provided ongoing insights to the work of the food bank.

Kettering Street Pastors

Another of our regular grantees that we were lucky enough to meet with in July were Kettering’s wonderful Street Pastors, who work to make Kettering’s streets safe and enjoyable for those out and about at the weekend. We met with Stuart to hear more about the volunteers working with the Street Pastors, the items that our support enables them to buy (such as anti-spiking devices and flip flops), and how they operate as an organisation.

Youth Works Northamptonshire

Youth Works Northamptonshire deliver ongoing education and support to local young people, providing free counselling, community college courses, family support, and regular activities including inclusive, safe spaces for LGBTQ+ young people.

A focus of our grant making in 2023 has been support for volunteers, allocating a small portion of grant funding to treating the dedicated volunteers of these incredible organisations. In chatting to Cindy from Youth Works, we learned that the volunteers has been wanting to try paddle-boarding, so we hope that our support will enable them to enjoy a day outdoors together and take a break for their hard work!

RSPCA Northamptonshire Branch

Finally, we recently visited the team at the RSPCA Northamptonshire Branch. The cost of living crisis means that more animals are in need of care than ever, and the team are continuously working to re-home and rehabilitate animals in need. With the opening of their new hub in Rushden, their Vet Nurse-led welfare team are now running regular welfare clinics to help pet owners with neutering and microchipping, as well as opening a pet food bank and providing advice on other ways to support our pets when times are hard.

We would like to specially thank Dawn, Thea, and Ethan for their continued communication with our Trustees and for their ongoing support of our furry friends in Northamptonshire.

(Photo from Northamptonshire Telegraph of the new RSPCA Welfare Hub in Rushden)

This summer, we have also been fortunate to visit and meet wonderful teams from Kettering Mind, Homestart Kettering (special thanks to Nikki for her kindness), Cransley Hospice, and Northamptonshire Rape Crisis. Each of the charities we support are doing incredible work in and around Kettering, and we look forward to learning more about the impact that they have on our communities.

If you are a registered charity working in or around Kettering and are interested in support from the Michael Guest Charitable Foundation, please don’t hesitate to contact us at michaelguestcf@gmail.com.