Northstar Ventures has invested £235,000, alongside a £37,500 grant from the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, in Foundation for Good, a charity based in Consett. Foundation for Good is transforming the lives of local residents by offering a powerful blend of alternative educational services, specialist boxing training and health and wellbeing services, whilst also operating a food bank. The funding will help to support the redevelopment of their HQ in the centre of Consett, which alongside funding from other providers, will significantly increase the capacity of alternative educational provision, as well as upgrading the gym and boxing provision and refurbishing the food bank.
At the heart of this transformative work is CEO and founder Fraser Neill, whose passion for boxing and the power of the sport to combat mental health issues is crucial to the charity’s mission. Foundation for Good are supported by many key partnerships but in particular for the building project has received support from the UK Government through the Community Ownership Fund and also from GroundWorks UK, Sir James Knott Trust, Northstar Ventures, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, Point North, The Barbour Foundation and The 29th May 1961 Charity.
Fraser Neill, CEO at Foundation for Good said “This funding marks a pivotal moment for Foundation for Good, enabling us to enhance our services and better support the incredible community we serve in Consett. By modernising our headquarters, we will create a space that fosters learning, wellbeing, and connection helping us to empower even more individuals to thrive. We are deeply grateful to Northstar Ventures, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, and our other supporters for believing in our mission and investing in our future. I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks to our trustees, and in particular to Rory Whaling, whose leadership and dedication were instrumental in spearheading this opportunity. Your hard work and commitment are deeply appreciated and have been crucial in bringing this to fruition.”
Tom O’Neill, Investment Manager at Northstar Ventures said “We are very pleased to support Foundation for Good with the redevelopment of their HQ in the centre of Consett. This will help to improve access to vital services by enabling Foundation for Good to significantly expand and ensure that more local people can access the important services they provide. Congratulations to Fraser and the wider team.”
Notes To Editors
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About Northstar Ventures
Northstar Ventures is a North East venture capital company investing in successful high growth SMEs and social sector organisations across the North East. The North East Social Investment Fund is one of the Funds we manage.
The North East Social Investment Fund invests in social enterprises with individual investments ranging in size from £100k to £1m. The Fund is targeted at organisations which exist primarily to deliver social impact and which reinvest the majority of their surpluses to further their social mission; including charities (limited by guarantee or CIO only), CICs (limited by guarantee or shares) and Registered Societies (previously known as ‘Industrial and Provident Societies’, for community benefit). NESIF is backed by Big Society Capital, the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and The Northstar Foundation.
Northstar Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Northstar Ventures Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 05104995. Registered office: 5th Floor, Maybrook House, 27-35 Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5JE.
Further information can be found at www.northstarventures.co.uk
About Better Society Capital (BSC)
Better Society Capital is the UK’s leading social impact investor. Our mission is to grow the amount of money invested in tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK. We do this by investing our own capital and helping others invest for impact too.
Since 2012, we have helped build a market that has directed more than £9 billion into social purpose organisations tackling issues from homelessness and mental health to childhood obesity and fuel poverty, a ten-fold increase in ten years.
Further information can be found at www.bettersocietycapital.com
About Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (EFF)
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for people and communities throughout the UK both now and in the future. It does this by funding the charitable work of organisations with the ideas and ability to achieve positive change.
The Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-makers in the UK. It makes grants of £30 – £35 million annually towards a wide range of work within the arts, education and learning, the environment and social change. It also operates a £26 million Finance Fund which invests in organisations that aim to deliver both a financial return and a social benefit.
Further information can be found at www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk
About Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is an independent organisation working to inspire social change through research, policy and practice.
For more information visit www.jrf.org.uk
About the Northstar Foundation
The Northstar Foundation is a registered charity (registration number 1158262) with wide charitable goals with a particular focus on supporting entrepreneurship and social enterprises that benefit excluded and deprived communities in the North East of England. Northstar Ventures Limited is committed to supporting our community and The Northstar Foundation has been set up to do this.
For more information contact: [email protected]
About North East Social Investment Company (NESIC)
North East Social Investment Company and its first social investment fund, NESIF, have been set up to provide an innovative, regional, strategic solution to developing the market for social investment in the North East and to reducing disadvantage, deprivation and social need in North East communities. The Board of NESIC will provide leadership regionally and nationally for the development of social investment.
About the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland
The Community Foundation grows giving and philanthropy, enabling people and businesses to support vital causes across North East England. Every year, it awards millions of pounds in grants to hundreds of local charities and community organisations through funds set up donors. The Newcastle-based charity, the UK’s biggest community foundation, has built an endowment of nearly £90 million as a community asset to support people and places in its area in perpetuity.
For the North East Social Investment Fund, the Community Foundation took over assets and responsibilities transferred by the former Northern Rock Foundation, which had set up the initiative with Better Society Capital and others.
