 Over 1,200 local young people are expected to benefit from £30,000 in grants awarded by the National Express Foundation, the charity arm of local train operator c2c’s parent company.
The six local charities and community groups who will benefit from awards in 2016 are:
- Lee Chapel North Helping Hands Job Club, awarded £15,000 over the next three years and expected to help nearly 700 young people seeking to gain employment
- Shuffle Festival in Tower Hamlets, awarded £5,000 for a series of workshops to improve a local community garden by engaging 15 local young people
- Barking and Dagenham Young People’s Association, awarded £2,500 to run sports coaching and a community cafe and expected to help 375 local young people
- The Bar ‘N’ Bus Trust, awarded £2,500 to provide mobile youth services in Grays, Stanford and Corringham, which expects to help 25 local young people
- Health Psychology Management Organisation Services, awarded £2,500 to run a mental health wellbeing programme to help 120 young people in Rainham
- Well Grounded Jobs community interest company, awarded £2,500 to help eight young people train as specialist baristas in Newham, Barking and Tower Hamlets
These grants take the National Express Foundation’s total funding to local charities and community groups to over £140,000 in the last five years.
John McKay from Lee Chapel North Helping Hands Job Club said: “This is the third time we have been awarded money by the National Express Foundation, and we are truly grateful to have been given funding over the next three years. This grant will provide a big boost to the work we do locally trying to help young people on the estate into employment.”
Mercy Maclean from Health Psychology Management Organisation Services said: “We are delighted that we will be able to support 120 young people in Barking and Dagenham in tackling their mental health problems. This will help facilitate their social and emotional wellbeing with a sense of commitment and connectedness with learning for young people.”
Salahuddin Ahmed from Barking and Dagenham Unemployed People's Association said: ''This award by National Express Foundation will help Barking & Dagenham Unemployed People's Association to promote community cohesion and understanding in the community involving young people of 15-24 years from local diverse community. Thank you for this grant.”
Anthony Vigor, Chairman of the National Express Foundation, said: “We are delighted to announce the National Express Foundation funding awards for 2016. Our funding for the six successful community groups along our route will help deliver even more positive and engaging activities for local young people.
“Since our launch in 2012 we have already helped over 2,000 local young people and with the latest round of funding awards we will be able to support over 1,200 more. We are looking forward to getting involved in the delivery of this year’s projects and really seeing how it helps our local young people progress in life.”
The National Express Foundation is only available to local charities and youth groups in the regions where National Express operates local public transport services, such as south Essex and east London on the c2c route, and bus services in the West Midlands.
ENDS
- For more information please contact Chris Atkinson on 020 7444 1868 or at chris.atkinson@c2crail.net
- About c2c: c2c is the award-winning train operator running services between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness, serving 26 stations in East London and South Essex. c2c is delivering the best performance in the UK rail industry, holding the UK records for annual punctuality (97.5%) and 4-weekly punctuality (98.8%) by a franchised train operator. c2c was named Passenger Operator of the Year at the 2015 National Rail Awards, and as London’s best commuter operator in Which? magazine’s latest survey of rail companies.
- About National Express: National Express is a leading international public transport operator, with bus, coach and rail services in the UK, Continental Europe, North Africa, North America and the Middle East. More than 800m journeys a year are made worldwide on our services. Our 42,000 employees are committed to improving the quality of life for all through travel.
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