Guildford Philanthropy

Guildford Philanthropy was conceived in 2014 by Guildford Borough Council and The Community Foundation for Surrey specifically to help the disadvantaged members of our community, within the Borough of Guildford. Our purpose is to raise awareness and encourage local donors to support the raising of an endowment fund to enable grants to be awarded to help those in need in our community. The initial vision, and still a central pillar, is to encourage the growth of social enterprise, not-for-profit businesses which provide social or environmental benefit to the local community and offer training or retraining opportunities. Guildford Borough Council, having established Guildford Philanthropy, remain strong supporters and encourage local giving by providing MATCH FUNDING FOR ALL DONATIONS. Also, the Council has recently set up a Community Lottery in which local residents can support Guildford Philanthropy. Guildford Philanthropy has recently widened it’s remit to incorporate two stand-alone charitable endeavours: Carers Support Guildford and Guildford Young Carers, both of which provide much needed support to these unheralded, unpaid and in many cases, unrecognised helpers in our community. Both these initiatives are administered by The Community Foundation for Surrey. The Community Foundation for Surrey administers Guildford Philanthropy and assesses all grant applications on its behalf. We endeavor to raise awareness and encourage local members of our Community to help support projects that deliver training opportunities, work experience, jobs and other benefits to local people who need help – whether due to poor education, disability or mental illness. We aim to build confidence and self-esteem by facilitating access into a working environment and by encouraging the development of new skills, thereby enabling those most in need to improve their lives. We also help local charities, community and voluntary organisations to become more sustainable