A Northumberland-based charity which supports individuals with lifelong mental health needs and learning disabilities has launched its first public fundraising campaign in its 37-year history.
In an attempt to overcome the funding challenges hitting the third sector in light of the cost of living crisis, Blyth Star Enterprises, which celebrated its 37th anniversary as a registered charity in October, has decided to try a new approach to fundraising in support of its most recent project – a horticultural initiative to transform a piece of barren or ‘waste’ land on the site of one of its day service at Stakeford Nurseries into a learning centre and training garden for its service users.
Having hit the halfway point towards its £139,500 fundraising goal back in July thanks to a generous £40,000 grant from The Jill and Norman Franklin Trust, Blyth Star has made great progress with the project so far. After completing all of the groundworks to make the land ready, the construction of the learning centre building began on 11 November and should be complete by the end of the month. The focus of the charity’s fundraising efforts now have turned towards kitting out the centre with all of the interior fixtures it needs and also, the landscaping around the building.
Julie Dixon, Chief Executive Officer at Blyth Star Enterprises, commented:
“Over the years, we have been incredibly fortunate at Blyth Star to find ourselves in a position where we haven’t been dependent on grants in order to survive. Instead, our philanthropic activities have always been focused on larger scale capital projects where we are looking to make improvements to our services which will benefit the individuals in our care.
“The barren land project is no exception to this and we are incredibly grateful to all of our benefactors who have helped us get to this point, but we still have a way to go to get to the finish line.
“As the cost of living crisis continues, large grant-making organisations are finding their resources increasingly stretched, which is making it harder for charities to access the funding they really need and as such, is pushing them to think outside the box when it comes to fundraising. A public-facing campaign is not something we have ever done before, but we thought, as it’s nearly Christmas, we’d give it a go.”
The campaign has been launched to coincide with Giving Tuesday – a global social media movement celebrated on 3 December designed to help charities, businesses and individuals to shine a spotlight on the philanthropic projects and activities that they’re doing and inspire millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
Blyth Star is looking to raise £60,000 to help finish the barren land project. Monies raised will cover the cost of purchasing furniture and technologies like smartboards and tablet devices which can be used by service users in the course of their learning to help bring the theoretical element of Stakeford Nurseries’ in-house horticultural training programme to life. It will also support the development of the land surrounding the learning centre into a training garden, complete with hedged walkways, herb and flower gardens to encourage local wildlife and mixed height raised beds and planting areas suitable for service users with mobility needs which will transform the derelict space into a practical garden which can be used for learning and wellness activities.
To find out more about the barren land project and how you can get involved, visit https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/blythstarecocentre
You can also find our campaign launch video below…
