The latest winners of our Community Support Scheme

Established in 2015 and announced quarterly, the Community Support Scheme, delivers grants of up to £500 to not-for-profit organisations within three areas of the North West: Greater Manchester, Cheshire East and Chester.

We are proud to announce the four winners for Q1 2022 are:

Elsie Ever After was founded by Helen Lyons after her daughter Elsie died in 2013. During this time, she learnt of the restrictions that organisations are forced to place on the care they provide due to financial restrictions.

Each existing organisation in Cheshire had criteria to meet in order to access bereavement support (either cause of death or location of residence) which left huge gaps in bereavement provision. Elsie Ever After sought to plug these gaps and be totally inclusive, to ensure that no-one is turned away from accessing bereavement support.

Helen Lyons, Founder, said,

“We are continuing to receive a high number of referrals for families requiring bereavement support and this money will enable us to provide funding for bereaved people to receive the support they need, whether that be traditional talking therapies or creative therapies.

“Charities have really struggled over the last couple of years (due to the cancellation of public fundraising events) and Elsie Ever After is no exception. This, coupled with the increase in deaths due to Covid, has meant our resources are really being stretched.

“When we founded the charity, our aim was to ensure that everyone had access to bereavement support – this grant will assist us in ensuring support is there for people in their darkest moments.” 

Just-Ice Poynton is an ethical ice cream café dedicated to helping survivors of modern slavery. As a social enterprise embedded in the community, they are perfectly placed to offer deep and meaningful support to the victims of human trafficking.

Jo Rodman, Chair of Trustees, said,

“Your grant will mean that we are able to better support the survivors of slavery doing work placements in our ice-cream cafe, providing bus passes and a clothing allowance for example.”

Daisy’s Dream head office is in Berkshire and one of the Therapeutic Practitioners moved up to Cheshire East. She found there was a need to support children and young people at her new location and consequently, the charity decided to extend its services.

The Therapeutic Practitioner, works 2 days a week and is currently supporting just over 55 children and young people. She offers professional support and advice to children and young people and their families facing, or following, the death of someone close to them.

Gill Stevens, Director, said,

“We are hugely grateful for this wonderful grant of £500 from Equilibrium. As we establish our support for children who have faced or are facing bereavement in the Cheshire East area, this generous amount will enable our professionally qualified therapeutic practitioner to support a local family for a whole year through the most difficult of times.”

MedEquip4Kids improves the health of babies and children in the UK by providing equipment not available from limited NHS resources and providing resources for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) providers.

Hayden Cowap, Corporate Fundraiser said,

“I want to say a huge thank you to Equilibrium for their support of our pulse oximeter project at Tameside General Hospital.

“This money will help MedEquip4Kids to provide pulse oximeters to the Children’s Community Team at the hospital who are hard at work supporting poorly children who have been discharged home on oxygen.

“Pulse oximeters measure blood oxygen saturation and help to ensure that the oxygen weaning process for children is safe and allows them to recover at home with their families. Once completed, we estimate that this project will benefit 30 children each year!”

We love giving away these grants and hearing how they help such worthwhile causes in the local area is truly inspiring.

If you or anyone you know would like to apply for a grant, the deadline for the next round of entries is Sunday 5 June and entries can be made online here. We look forward to hearing from you.