Wiltshire Community Foundation (WCF) is pleased to announce a new partnership with major South West car dealer group Dick Lovett, in a significant step to support care leavers in Wiltshire and Swindon.
This is part of the Care Leavers Programme, a new £3.6 million national programme managed by UK Community Foundations. The initiative will run over a three-year period and involve 17 community foundations and is being funded by the Local Authorities’ Mutual Investment Trust, a shareholder of the UK’s biggest Charity Asset manager, the CCLA.
In April, WCF was selected to receive £40,000 a year for three years from this scheme, which needed to be match-funded. WCF has joined forces with The Lovett Foundation, the charitable arm of Dick Lovett, who has generously agreed to donate £100,000 towards the project, across a five-year period.
Set up in 2019, The Lovett Foundation supports children in care and young adults leaving care across the Southwest and Wales, giving them assistance, life skills and experiences which will contribute to a brighter future. When setting up their foundation, the executive team at Dick Lovett wished to focus their charitable giving on an area of need, and where there is a current gap in financial support, and formally partnered with WCF in March to help care leavers across the county.
This funding will help to increase opportunities for care leavers entering higher and further education and vocational training, leading to greater employment opportunities, by expanding our university bursary and vocational support programmes, overall improving the lives of care leavers within our community.
A Dick Lovett representative said: “We are delighted to start our partnership with Wiltshire Community Foundation. It will help us to direct the money that we raise through fundraising activities to the correct places, in particular to help support young people leaving the care system. Together we can make sure that they get the opportunities that they deserve.”
WCF Philanthropy Director, Oliver Selfe said: “We are thrilled to have partnered up with Dick Lovett to deliver our Care Leaver’s programme. This is an outstanding commitment from them to agree to help fund the project for five years and will mean that the programme can have a greater and more sustained impact. We are extremely grateful for their generosity.
“Care leavers are unfortunately faced with numerous challenges to overcome, and it is absolutely vital that they have access to the same opportunities as their peers. Thanks to the support from the Lovett Foundation, as well as the funding secured from UK Community Foundations and LAMIT, we can offer care leavers greater support and more opportunities.”
