Trustees Report

Small Grants

For the year ended 30 September 2022

Staff Hardship Fund

The Foundation added its new Staff Hardship Fund to its product offerings in late-2018, enabling it to support staff facing financial hardship.

Since their introduction, demand for these grants has increased steadily and the company agreed to maintain their contribution in FY2021/22 of £50,000. This year, the Foundation has supported 343 grant applications to a total amount of £166,363, processing 407 applications. The Foundation supported more applicants than the previous year in part due to the cost of living crisis and raised awareness of the Staff Hardship Fund.

The impact of these relatively small awards to the beneficiaries is significant as indicated by the following comments from beneficiaries:

“Without the wonderful supporters like Sam, we wouldn’t be in a position to fund incredible research that we hope will one day lead to a world free of MND.”

“I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Caretech Foundation for their very generous donation which took our total to an amazing £2630.00! I highly recommend anyone that is eligible to apply for support with their fundraising efforts.”

“There were so many magical moments that it is hard to list them all. Seeing the young people find ways to communicate with each other and have fun in the water, and to make sure everyone was included at mealtimes and during conversations and games was incredible. They loved the fact that for once people with Usher syndrome were in the majority!”

Community Grants

Demand for the Foundation’s Community Grants continued steadily again this year with £80,000 profiled for this financial year. During 2021/22, the Foundation has supported 54 Community Grants to a value of £82,924.50. The Foundation continued to support similar levels of Community Grants as in the previous year. Examples of grants made this year include the following:

£2,500 towards the Purple Angel Dementia Campaign

A Community Grant of £2,500 was awarded to the Purple Angel Dementia Campaign to provide 157 free MP3 players (and headphones) with up to 20 customised songs to help offer joy and comfort for those living with Dementia in the UK.

£5,000 towards 500+ care packages for Sehat Kahani in Pakistan

A Community Grant of £5,000 was awarded to Sehat Kahani, a leading digital healthcare platform, that supported flood victims in Pakistan. The recent floods in Pakistan, have not only damaged people’s homes but has also taken their shelters and livelihoods. This award supplied much-needed care packages to the people most affected by the floods in Pakistan.

£10,000 towards The Together Project to support Crafting Connections

A community grant of £10,000 was awarded to The Together Project, to support Crafting Connections so children and older adults in care homes could be partnered to create artwork on a given topic each month and swap it in the post. Crafting Connections is run by the national charity The Together Project. The charity works to boost wellbeing, reduce loneliness and foster stronger, happier communities by creating joyful intergenerational experiences.

£2,500 towards TAP (Thank And Praise) to support frontline care professionals

TAP is a free-to-use social thanking platform and supports the wellbeing of 75,000 keyworkers at 5,000 locations around the country through the power of gratitude. A Community Grant of £2,500 helped TAP to support the London Care and Support (LCAS) Forum and 1,500 care organisations within the London region via the provision and management of a dedicated LCAS Forum Thanking Wall.

£2,000 towards Deafblind UK to fund a Summer Camp for up to 50 young people with Usher Syndrome

A Community Grant of £2,000 was awarded to Deafblind UK to support young people with Usher Syndrome. The charity hosted a Summer Camp in Wales for children from 12 to 25 with Usher. The camp was mostly run by people with Usher. The funds enabled Deafblind UK to run the camp and ensure the children were able to experience activities such as yoga, camping, picnics, writing on a wish tree and develop self- advocacy skills.

£2,500 towards Heidi-Lou, a 9-year old girl with Quad Cerebral Palsy

Nominated by Tanya Davis- Walkden, Acting Business Development Manager at CareTech, we awarded Heidi-Lou a Community Grant of £2,500 to fund a life-changing operation. Quad cerebral palsy means all Heidi-Lou’s limbs are affected and this surgery prevented her from needing further surgery as she moves into adulthood. Heidi- Lou’s family and friends undertook several fundraising challenges to raise funds and the award from the Foundation helped her to have this critical operation. The operation helped to increase Heidi-Lou’s functional mobility, reduce spasms and increase her energy and physical endurance.

Match-Funding Grants

Demand for the Match-Funding Grants steadily increased towards the end of the financial year. During 2021/22, the Foundation supported 48 Match Fund grants to a total of £17,258.99, which was an increase compared to the £13,701 grants awarded in the previous year. Examples of grants made this year include:

£350£350 was donated to Young Minds in support of a fun day, raffle and tombola and games event organised by Rebecca Houfe, Team Leader at The Cambian Group.

£350

Sam Graham, a Childcare Practitioner at CareTech, raised £350 after walking 215 miles. which was matched by the Foundation, for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

£315

£315 was donated to Cancer Research UK after Paige Kelly, Graphic Designer at CareTech ran Race for Life with her siblings, in memory of her late grandfather.

£180£180 was donated to AIM Northwest’s Stepping Out Against Domestic Violence Challenge after Caroline Beddow, a Tender Manager at CareTech completed 310,000 steps.

£350£350 was donated to Abigail’s Footsteps after Amanda Davis, Team Leader Support Worker at CareTech, completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon.

The event was a huge success! All of the tombola prizes went and lots of locals came in support! We set our goal at £100 to raise so were amazed when we counted up the money to find we had raised a total of £702! We then applied for match-funding from the Caretech Foundation which has now taken our total to over £1000! Words can’t express how proud I am of Megan’s efforts and how grateful we are to everyone who donated prizes and money. This money is going to an amazing cause and makes us proud to be part of the community that we live in