BUILDING THRIVING COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTH WEST

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Ben Harris

Hello

In my role helping charities to make a bigger impact, I meet many ambitious organisations and groups working within communities across South West England.

Local charities work tirelessly to tackle the effects of the region’s challenges: the economic reliance on seasonal industries, a shortage of affordable housing, supporting an ageing population and connecting remote rural communities, to name a few. From my experience though, their vital work also demonstrates some of our region’s key assets - resourcefulness, enterprise and readiness to join together to achieve a shared goal.

So we're celebrating the impact of charities in the South West who are helping local communities to thrive and grow. This ethos shines through in the projects we have supported across the region - from converting a derelict foundry into a base for fledgling businesses, and extending a church to create a community space for a growing parish, to helping a community-led scheme develop much-needed affordable housing.

To help shape your charity's future plans, we have collected together some useful resources, including a fascinating Giving in South West England infographic, comparing giving levels in our region with those nationally.

If you're looking for help to deliver your charity's vision or to get a mission-boosting project off the ground, find out how we can help and get in touch with me today.

LOCAL CHARITIES' STORIES

Across South West England, we've helped a wide variety of charities and community-led organisations, to fund their future goals, strengthen resilience and grow the impact of their work. Here are some of their stories.

Former foundry drives local regeneration

A heritage project is transforming a once declining Cornish town into a thriving enterprise hub.

Read Harvey's Foundry's story

Growing appetite for school dinners

How social investment helped Local Food Links to meet the demand for healthy school dinners in Dorset.

Read Local Food Link's story

Planting seeds to grow a community

How we helped Lawrence Weston Community Farm in Bristol to develop their corporate donor strategy.

Find out what we did

Raising the roof for a higher purpose

St Michael’s Church, which serves a growing parish, expanded its facilities to create a hub for the local community, with the help of a loan from CAF Bank.

Read St Michael's' Church Story

Developing affordable housing

How a Community Land Trust funded the development of eight affordable homes, with support from CAF Venturesome and CAF Bank.

Read the story

USEFUL RESOURCES

Throughout the year, we share insight for charity leaders and trustees, on funding, diversifying income, strategic planning and governance matters. Here's where you'll find our latest blogs, research and campaigns.

  • Deception_Thumbnail_150x150

    Spot and avoid banking scams

    Our new security guide highlights the warning signs of attempted banking fraud and nine effective ways to protect your charity.
  • Giving Tuesday logo

    Become a Giving Tuesday partner

    Is your charity doing something on Giving Tuesday? If the answer's yes, sign up as an official partner and get loads of free resources.
  • email marketing

    Why email is a timeless tool for charities

    Isn't email dead already? Not by a long shot. Senior Marketing Executive, Yasmin Islam, looks at why email still works, and how to harness its power to achieve your charity goals.

HOW WE CAN HELP

We're a charity, owner of a bank and a champion for better giving. Take a look at our financial, fundraising and strategic consultancy services, designed with charities in mind.

Banking services

We make it easy to manage your charity's day-to-day banking in a way that suits you.

Check out our charity current account

Borrowing

Borrowing is one way of kick-starting your projects and achieving your goals more quickly than fundraising alone.

Find flexible finance

Charity investments

Whether you’re new to investing or you’ve been investing for years, our resources can help you understand charity investing.

Visit the investment knowledge centre

Savings accounts

We offer a range of savings accounts to help you generate extra income from your charity’s money.

Compare our deposit accounts

Fundraising tools and advice

Our fundraising tools, blogs, articles and guides are here to help you fundraise more effectively.

Explore the hub

Strategic consultancy

Our experienced advisers are here to share their expertise and help you build on your charity's strengths.

See how our advisers can help you
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