Community Champions to be Celebrated at Scarborough Event Tonight

Scarborough is set to host a special event this Wednesday evening, celebrating the profound impact of community organisations along the coast and encouraging local business to offer support.

The "Give Back to Scarborough & Coast" gathering will take place on Wednesday 25th June at 6pm at The Street, offering a unique opportunity to acknowledge groups that are making a significant difference in local people's lives.

The event has been organised by the Two Ridings Community Foundation which has been able to distribute over £250,000 of funding to groups in the former Scarborough Borough over the last two years.

The event aims to showcase the vital work of community organisations in Scarborough, Whitby, along the coast, and in rural areas. Bec Horner from Two Ridings Community Foundation says it's a great opportunity for local businesses and individuals to meet with the key community organisations.

"We are celebrating community organizations in Scarborough, Whitby, the coast, and the rural areas , who make a huge difference to local people's lives.

All these groups have been funded by the North Yorkshire Coast Fund via two Ridings Community Foundation, and they are coming along to celebrate the work that they do.

Organizations, people, local businesses who want to make a difference in their local area, can come and find out about the impact of giving to these community organizations."

Over the past two years, Two Ridings Community Foundation has distributed more than a quarter of a million pounds to groups in the former borough of Scarborough, with £39,000 directly disbursed through the North Yorkshire Coast Fund. This funding has supported over 50 community organisations, addressing critical local challenges such as poverty, loneliness, and mental health issues. The activities and support provided by these groups are credited with bringing "hope, purpose, and connection to people across the region".

Bec Horner says that attendees will have the opportunity to meet inspiring community leaders and hear their stories first-hand.

"It's very much about showcasing what they do. When you describe to a business or a person who's thinking about making a difference and doing some charitable giving, they get it, but when they actually meet the community leaders, the people making a difference, they're real inspirational people who actually are often very humble and don't  seem extraordinary, but they really are.

They are a special kind of people who really give back. All the time.

Yeah it's very inspiring to hear the stories they're transforming lives."

Among the organisations that have received funding and will be celebrated are:

• Flash Company Arts in Whitby, which has developed a community hub for local people, including young individuals, featuring a community fridge and café. Ms. Horner noted that it is "a real a centre of inspiration for people to socialize, feel good about themselves, top up on their groceries should they need to, and do activities".
• Future Works, a Scarborough organisation, which assists young people who may have been excluded from school or struggle in a traditional school environment, helping them find their footing and access training and activities.
• Inkahoots, a Scarborough charity, recently funded for a dance initiative for boys and young men. This project has been described as "really inspiring really. built people's confidence and social skills and created a real happy community".

The event will also provide an insight into the funding process. Bec says the North Yorkshire Coast Fund's decisions are made by panels of local people in Scarborough, including counsellors, local community leaders, and importantly, young people.

"At the North Yorkshire Coast Fund we have panels of people who make decisions on where the funding is gonna be distributed to, and, in Scarborough, we have a panel of local people made up of councillors, local community leaders, and very importantly young people.

So it's local people with lived experience and local knowledge of the area who are making the decisions about the funding. It's not Two Ridings or the trustees at Two Ridings that make that decision. It's people with the knowledge of the issues and what people want. So it's a participatory process"

The North Yorkshire Coast Fund itself is sustained by original donations from Scarborough Borough Council with additional contributions from donors.

Bec says the way the fund is managed means donations will have a long term impact.

"the fund is made up of original donations from Scarborough Council.

That was. And also a very great organization called Lankelly Chase. And then there's additional money coming from donors, but that money is invested in an endowment fund. And the interest from that is, is given out annually to make up those grants. And that means it's going to be a long-term forever fund.

There's always going to be money to give out from the North Yorkshire coast fund. So it's a legacy. Very important. "

Bec says the event is  a valuable opportunity for local businesses and individuals interested in charitable giving to find out about the impact of giving to these community organizations

"it's a really great opportunity to meet us, the funders, the team at Two Ridings, find out all about the impact of giving  and the difference it makes they'll meet the community groups. They'll meet CAVCA, they'll have the opportunity to talk and, ask questions themselves.

I really encourage people to come down and see about the impact. It makes such a difference when you hear people talk about the people that, that have benefited from the funding and that the projects that they do it'll be a really exciting and inspiring place to be."

The Give Back to Scarborough & Coast event is at The Street in Scarborough on Wednesday 25th June at 6pm.

There is more information about the Two Ridings Foundation at https://tworidingscf.org.uk/