June 2018
Katrina Barter stepped down as Chairman of The Grove Trust as she is moving with her family to Australia. She remains a trustee and will keep in close contact with us depite being so far away.
Julia Coupland and Dani Duclos (Hains) will share the role of chair going forward.
Katrina Barter stepped down as Chairman of The Grove Trust as she is moving with her family to Australia. She remains a trustee and will keep in close contact with us depite being so far away.
Julia Coupland and Dani Duclos (Hains) will share the role of chair going forward.
September 2015
This month The Grove Trust celebrated its 5th birthday in the Mayor's Parlour along many of our members and charities we have supported.
This month The Grove Trust celebrated its 5th birthday in the Mayor's Parlour along many of our members and charities we have supported.
Speech for The Grove Trust’s 5th Birthday Reception presented by Katrina Barter
Kensington & Chelsea Town Hall
Tuesday 29th September, 2015
Thank you all for joining us this evening to help celebrate the 5th birthday of The Grove Trust. I would particularly like to thank the Mayor and Mayoress of Kensington & Chelsea, Councillor and Mrs Robert Freeman, for generously hosting us in this auspicious venue. As well as Jeremy and Britta Lloyd and David Fitzsimons for kindly donating the delicious food and beverages.
Secondly I would like to thank all of our incredibly generous members, as well as the many individual donors who have contributed to The Grove Trust. I would like to make a special mention of seven members here tonight who shared our vision and backed The Trust since its very first year: Lauren Clancy, Sarah Chappatte, Liz Dingemans, Paulina Wilhelmsen, Angus Coupland, David Fitzsimons and Chris Barter.
And thirdly, I would like to thank the wonderful charities we support. There are too many to name this evening, however, they are all in this room. I hope that you will take a moment to seek them out and chat about the inspiring work a small number of dedicated people, on incredibly tight budgets, does to improve the lives of thousands of people in our community.
Most of you know the history of The Grove Trust, but for those who are newcomers please allow me to briefly set the scene. In early 2010 I approached two good friends and neighbours, Dani Hains and Julia Coupland, and discussed the idea to raise money as a growing collective and support exclusively local charities on an evolving basis. Like myself, Dani and Julia are passionate about Notting Hill and truly appreciate what a fantastic place it is to live. ……..the unique, villagey feel it offers in the centre of a very big city, the extraordinary culture diversity, the parks and gardens, the unrivalled speciality shops and boutiques, fabulous sporting facilities and schools, just to name a few of its many benefits.
We were also keenly aware of the gaping discrepancy between rich and poor on our doorstep. However, we weren’t aware of how large this was until we dug a little deeper. I would like to mention a few statistics that I sourced from the K&C Foundation; a fabulous charity we support whose new Director, Susan Dolton and long standing Chair, Tim Coleridge are with us tonight.
I think you will agree that these statistics are surprising and need to be improved.
Whilst the work and beneficiaries of The Grove Trust are not limited to Kensington and Chelsea, the bulk of the charities we support are based in North Kensington and most of them are unknown to local residents.
Each year, we choose an area of need to focus on. Following a rational, in depth due diligence process we narrow a long list down to 3 or 4 outstanding charities servicing that particular need. These charities are invited to present to our members and collectively we decide how to allocate our pool of funds. No easy task. Due to the high calibre of charities, each has received a grant over a two or three year period.
In the past 5 years we have looked at education, older people, vulnerable adults, impoverished children and unemployment. This year we are focusing on wider learning opportunities for children.
Aside from the financial benefit we provide to the charities, we have developed a more meaningful relationship with many of them and also helped in non-financial ways such as collecting books for libraries, introducing qualified volunteers and encouraging joint ventures. By keeping in regular contact, we do our best to keep abreast of changes, progress and difficulties.
With funding growing increasingly scarce in this age of austerity, we have managed to step in and rescue charities in times of financial stress. We have also been lucky enough to build a separate fund thanks to individual donors and used this money to support programmes such as Avondale Primary School’s breakfast club, Al-Hasaniya’s luncheon club for older women and Summer holiday programs for children organised by the K&C Foundation.
Whilst there are a large number of charities in our neighbourhood given the economic disparities, I would like to point out that the local council is incredibly active and supportive. In addition, the local charitable sector is a tight knit community. It is impressive to witness many of the charities working together when appropriate, hence reducing overlap and increasing efficiency. This is something to be proud of.
To date we have awarded multiple grants to 20 local charities and have raised just over £1 million. We are hugely thankful to all of our supporters for making what began as a small dream, grow into an impactful reality.
Thank you.
Kensington & Chelsea Town Hall
Tuesday 29th September, 2015
Thank you all for joining us this evening to help celebrate the 5th birthday of The Grove Trust. I would particularly like to thank the Mayor and Mayoress of Kensington & Chelsea, Councillor and Mrs Robert Freeman, for generously hosting us in this auspicious venue. As well as Jeremy and Britta Lloyd and David Fitzsimons for kindly donating the delicious food and beverages.
Secondly I would like to thank all of our incredibly generous members, as well as the many individual donors who have contributed to The Grove Trust. I would like to make a special mention of seven members here tonight who shared our vision and backed The Trust since its very first year: Lauren Clancy, Sarah Chappatte, Liz Dingemans, Paulina Wilhelmsen, Angus Coupland, David Fitzsimons and Chris Barter.
And thirdly, I would like to thank the wonderful charities we support. There are too many to name this evening, however, they are all in this room. I hope that you will take a moment to seek them out and chat about the inspiring work a small number of dedicated people, on incredibly tight budgets, does to improve the lives of thousands of people in our community.
Most of you know the history of The Grove Trust, but for those who are newcomers please allow me to briefly set the scene. In early 2010 I approached two good friends and neighbours, Dani Hains and Julia Coupland, and discussed the idea to raise money as a growing collective and support exclusively local charities on an evolving basis. Like myself, Dani and Julia are passionate about Notting Hill and truly appreciate what a fantastic place it is to live. ……..the unique, villagey feel it offers in the centre of a very big city, the extraordinary culture diversity, the parks and gardens, the unrivalled speciality shops and boutiques, fabulous sporting facilities and schools, just to name a few of its many benefits.
We were also keenly aware of the gaping discrepancy between rich and poor on our doorstep. However, we weren’t aware of how large this was until we dug a little deeper. I would like to mention a few statistics that I sourced from the K&C Foundation; a fabulous charity we support whose new Director, Susan Dolton and long standing Chair, Tim Coleridge are with us tonight.
- 45% of children are living in poverty in the four Northern wards of the Borough
- there is an 11 year discrepancy in life expectancy between the North and South of the Borough
- 51% of children in the Borough attend private schools, but of those in state schools the proportion receiving free school meals is double the National average
- 31% of private housing do not meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standards
I think you will agree that these statistics are surprising and need to be improved.
Whilst the work and beneficiaries of The Grove Trust are not limited to Kensington and Chelsea, the bulk of the charities we support are based in North Kensington and most of them are unknown to local residents.
Each year, we choose an area of need to focus on. Following a rational, in depth due diligence process we narrow a long list down to 3 or 4 outstanding charities servicing that particular need. These charities are invited to present to our members and collectively we decide how to allocate our pool of funds. No easy task. Due to the high calibre of charities, each has received a grant over a two or three year period.
In the past 5 years we have looked at education, older people, vulnerable adults, impoverished children and unemployment. This year we are focusing on wider learning opportunities for children.
Aside from the financial benefit we provide to the charities, we have developed a more meaningful relationship with many of them and also helped in non-financial ways such as collecting books for libraries, introducing qualified volunteers and encouraging joint ventures. By keeping in regular contact, we do our best to keep abreast of changes, progress and difficulties.
With funding growing increasingly scarce in this age of austerity, we have managed to step in and rescue charities in times of financial stress. We have also been lucky enough to build a separate fund thanks to individual donors and used this money to support programmes such as Avondale Primary School’s breakfast club, Al-Hasaniya’s luncheon club for older women and Summer holiday programs for children organised by the K&C Foundation.
Whilst there are a large number of charities in our neighbourhood given the economic disparities, I would like to point out that the local council is incredibly active and supportive. In addition, the local charitable sector is a tight knit community. It is impressive to witness many of the charities working together when appropriate, hence reducing overlap and increasing efficiency. This is something to be proud of.
To date we have awarded multiple grants to 20 local charities and have raised just over £1 million. We are hugely thankful to all of our supporters for making what began as a small dream, grow into an impactful reality.
Thank you.
February 2014
The Grove Trust held its AGM on February 4th. The members voted and decided to focus on 'vulnerable adults' for 2014. This is an age group (25-50 years) that we have not looked at before and will cover many people with wide ranging needs who do not fall into the most popular demographics targeted by many charities.
The Grove Trust held its AGM on February 4th. The members voted and decided to focus on 'vulnerable adults' for 2014. This is an age group (25-50 years) that we have not looked at before and will cover many people with wide ranging needs who do not fall into the most popular demographics targeted by many charities.
January 2013
The Grove Trust visits New Scotland Yard to view a film made for the St Giles Trust featuring Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, Former President of the Supreme Court, Lord Phillips Worth of Matravers and ex- offenders who now work on the frontline helping others to change their lives through the SOS project.
The Grove Trust visits New Scotland Yard to view a film made for the St Giles Trust featuring Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, Former President of the Supreme Court, Lord Phillips Worth of Matravers and ex- offenders who now work on the frontline helping others to change their lives through the SOS project.
December 2013
The Grove Trust is delighted to announce that our grants for 2013 have been awarded to four fantastic local charities: ClementJames Centre, Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust, Family Friends and the Venture Centre.
Since its inception, the ClementJames Centre has run a hugely successful education programme called IntoUniversity. Based on this great track record, ClementJames is currently seeking funds to establish a literacy and numeracy programme as many of their children are struggling in these areas at school. The Grove Trust funding will go towards establishing this incredibly worthwhile programme. www.clementjames.org.
The Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust is a community centre based in the Dalgarno estate at the North end of St Marks Road. Dalgarno runs various programmes for children including a homework club, cooking club, math club and other art related projects. They would like to expand all of their current programmes which will require funding to pay for extra staff. The Grove Trust grant will go towards additional staff for these incredibly valuable programmes. www.dalgarnotrust.org.uk.
Family Friends is a befriending and mentoring service for children aged 0-16 years and for the parents of disadvantaged families. This charity provides early intervention services through a network of trained volunteers. Family Friends was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2013 for charities supporting their community, yet despite this, they struggle every year to attract sufficient funds to pay their staff. Grove Trust funding will go towards continuing the award-winning work of this amazing organisation. www.familyfriends.uk.com
The Venture Centre is one of the oldest adventure playgrounds in the UK. It is based in the Wornington Green Estate just North of Golborne Road, Golborne Ward is the second poorest ward in the UK. The playground attracts up to 150 children at any given time and is busiest during the warmer months after school and on Saturdays. They also run a cooking club, arts & crafts, book club, and a summer camp in Kent. The Grove Trust grant will fund an additional staff member to extend their healthy living and eating programme and to offer an additional week to their summer camp programme. This will ensure more children in our neighbourhood can attend and experience life outside of the Golborne Ward.
October 2013
The Grove Trust finalist charities have been decided for 2013. After completing a review of all 18 long-listed charities, and then performing due diligence on our short-list of seven organisations, we have identified our four finalists: ClementJames Centre, Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust, Family Friends and the Venture Centre.
The Grove Trust finalist charities have been decided for 2013. After completing a review of all 18 long-listed charities, and then performing due diligence on our short-list of seven organisations, we have identified our four finalists: ClementJames Centre, Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust, Family Friends and the Venture Centre.
September 2013
In the month of September the Grove Trust will consider a long-list of 18 charitable organisations that are working to help children living in poverty. The list includes youth centres, legal support services, sporting clubs, arts trusts, study support, domestic abuse support and mentoring services. To make it onto our short list, each charity will need to meet two criteria: 1) their youth programmes must primarily support children (aged 0-15 years), and 2) over 90% of the children that they work with must be living in poverty. The charities consider children to be living in poverty if they receive free school meals. Once we have reviewed all 18 charities, a short-list will be prepared for the next round of our grant giving process.
In the month of September the Grove Trust will consider a long-list of 18 charitable organisations that are working to help children living in poverty. The list includes youth centres, legal support services, sporting clubs, arts trusts, study support, domestic abuse support and mentoring services. To make it onto our short list, each charity will need to meet two criteria: 1) their youth programmes must primarily support children (aged 0-15 years), and 2) over 90% of the children that they work with must be living in poverty. The charities consider children to be living in poverty if they receive free school meals. Once we have reviewed all 18 charities, a short-list will be prepared for the next round of our grant giving process.
March 2013
In response to recent cuts in RBKC funding to Al-Hasaniya, the Grove Trust was able to step in and fund their Friday luncheon club for older women for a second year. We funded this through the Grove Trust Special Projects Fund. The luncheon club is well attended and warmly received by many people in the Al-Hasaniya community, affording them not only a nourishing meal, but a chance to socialise, and to share information and knowledge about health topics, changes to benefits, and so much more.
In response to recent cuts in RBKC funding to Al-Hasaniya, the Grove Trust was able to step in and fund their Friday luncheon club for older women for a second year. We funded this through the Grove Trust Special Projects Fund. The luncheon club is well attended and warmly received by many people in the Al-Hasaniya community, affording them not only a nourishing meal, but a chance to socialise, and to share information and knowledge about health topics, changes to benefits, and so much more.
February 2013
At our annual meeting in January, the Grove Trust members decided to focus on children living in poverty for 2013. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is one of the wealthiest areas in the country. It boasts the highest property prices in the UK, however, in amongst this wealth there are deep pockets of poverty and deprivation. This is highly concentrated in our immediate area (i.e. The Grove Trust catchment area), and we are keen to do what we can to help the impoverished children in our neighbourhood. Disadvantaged children suffer academically, have greater ill health and are more likely to be involved in crime, both as a victim and a perpetrator. For this and so many other reasons, The Grove Trust is proud to be focusing on this important issue for the coming year.
At our annual meeting in January, the Grove Trust members decided to focus on children living in poverty for 2013. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is one of the wealthiest areas in the country. It boasts the highest property prices in the UK, however, in amongst this wealth there are deep pockets of poverty and deprivation. This is highly concentrated in our immediate area (i.e. The Grove Trust catchment area), and we are keen to do what we can to help the impoverished children in our neighbourhood. Disadvantaged children suffer academically, have greater ill health and are more likely to be involved in crime, both as a victim and a perpetrator. For this and so many other reasons, The Grove Trust is proud to be focusing on this important issue for the coming year.
Katrina Barter gives an interview to NottingChic Insider magazine. 
Katrina Barter with Elroy Palmer and Junior Smart from the SOS Project.
Katrina Barter meeting Prince William
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December 2012
The Grove Trust 2012 grants awarded Our members unanimously agreed to award equal grants spread over two years to all three finalists working to reduce youth unemployment. The Harrow Club W10, a local community centre and Clement James, founders of IntoUniversity and IntoWork, will work together harnessing eachothers' resources in what we hope will be a mutually benefical joint venture. The Rugby Portobello Trust will expand its In2Work programme and is supporting the SOS Project, one of our previous grant beneficiaries. November 2012
Friend of The Grove Trust donates beautiful new children's clothes to Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust Maria Carolina Villamizar, owner of Nanos on Westbourne Grove, very kindly donated a large number of exquisite children's clothes to Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust. The families of these children were incredibly moved by her generosity, thank you Maria Carolina! October 2012
The Grove Trust attends a celebration dinner for St Giles Trust Chair of The Grove Trust, Katrina Barter, was honored to be invited to celebrate 50 years of the St Giles Trust, umbrella to the SOS Project, hosted by The October Club at the Savoy Hotel where she met HRH the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William. The Grove Trust hosts a fundraiser for the SOS Project With the generous support of Britta and Jeremy Lloyd we hosted an evening in their home to raise awareness and funds for the SOS Project. Speakers included Junior Smart, the founder of the SOS Project, Elroy Palmer our local SOS caseworker, Dave Evans (ex Partnerships Inspector with the Metropolitan Police, now volunteer for SOS), Annalisa Andrews a local Sergeant and Head of the Integrated Offender Management team and John Grumbar, Honorary Chairman of Egon Zhender, who was influential in bringing SOS to Kensington and Chelsea. It was a wonderful evening that was well received and we raised over £40,000. September 2012
The Grove Trust selects its 'youth employment' finalists for 2012 We are very pleased to announce our three finalists for 2012. From a long list of 17 charities, we narrowed our list to six charities who met our criteria of helping deprived young people into work. We visited their premises, met with their Directors and staff members and ultimately selected three finalists. These are: 1) Clement James www.clementjames.org 2) Rugby Portobello Trust www.rugbyportobello.org.uk 3) Harrow Club W10 www.harrowclubw10.org The Grove Trust attends Eid al-Fitr at the House of Commons The Trustees of The Grove Trust were kindly invited by Al-Hasaniya to attend a reception at the House of Commons to celebrate Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan. It was a lively, well-attended event and we were privileged to hear from Simon Hughes MP, Baroness Warsi, Dr Vince Cable MP, John Berkow MP and Harriet Harman MP. July 2012
Grant awarded to The Video College The Grove Trust Trustees award The Video College with a grant of £3,000 from the Special Projects Fund to fund accommodation and transport costs to finish their documentary on the restoration of the organ in the Holy Trinity Church in Clapham, taking place in Devon in October 2012. June 2012
The Grove Trust attends the 50th Anniversary celebration of the St Giles Trust at the House of Commons The Trustees of The Grove Trust were fortunate to be invited to attend the celebration and hear from many inspirational speakers including Jenny Agutter, Nick Herbert, Chris Grayling, Crispin Blunt, Jessica Collingwood and Andrew Purvis. We also heard from Patrick Tchetche and Junior Smart, founder of the SOS Project, who shared their very moving and personal accounts of how they both rebuilt their lives after prison. April 2012
The Grove Trust donates to the SOS Project We were fortunate to be introduced to the SOS Project who recently set up a branch in our local area. The SOS Project was established seven years ago by a former prisoner, Junior Smart, who whilst in prison couldn't believe how often he saw the same faces returning. He believed that reformed ex-prisoners were best placed to help those coming out of prison, and with the help of the St Giles Trust they are trained to befriend and mentor newly released young offenders. We were incredibly impressed with their success rate, less than 20% re-offend after 1-2 years of being released from prison (the national statistic is 75%), and awarded a grant from our Special Projects Fund to fund two local caseworkers for one financial year. For more information, please visit www.sosproject.org.uk. February 2012
Grant awarded to the K&C Foundation The Grove Trust Trustees award the K&C Foundation a grant of £5,000 from the Special Projects Fund to go towards core costs. Please visit www.thek&cfoundation.com for information. January 2012
The Grove Trust selects its focus for 2012 Our members met to discuss where the greatest need for funding is in our community. Everyone agreed that youth unemployment is a pressing problem, it is directly linked to crime and an area of concern for all residents. December 2011
The Grove Trust 2011 Grants Awarded Grants were awarded to all three of our finalists. The majority of funding went to Age Concern (now known as Age UK) and Open Age over a two year period. Age Concern put the grant towards their Intergenerational Project and Open Age allocated the funds to core costs, primarily financing the Finance Manager and Assistant Finance Manager. The remainder of the funds were awarded to Al-Hasaniya who will use the grant to re-establish a weekly luncheon club for older people and increase their part-time outreach worker to a full-time position. We would like to congratulate all three charities and we're looking forward to working with them over the next two years. Book Collection Our members kindly donated books which were distributed to Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust and the Westside School. September 2011
The Grove Trust Finalists Announced We have chosen our finalist charities for 2011. A long list of 18 local charities helping 'older people' in the community was narrowed down to a short list of seven. We interviewed the Directors, met staff and beneficiaries and toured the premises of each of these charities. It was a difficult decision, however, we selected three charities to present to The Grove Trust Members: 1) Age Concern (www.ackc.org.uk) 2) Open Age (www.openage.org.uk) 3) Al-Hasaniya (www.alhasaniya.com) June 2011
Summer Book Collection The Grove Trust co-ordinated a book collection in the last week of June, they were sorted and distributed to Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust and the Westside School by our members. May 2011
The Grove Trust Featured in Pavlova Diaries To view the post, entitled "Notting Hill charity begins at home", please visit www.pavlovadiaries.co.uk/?p=4773 February 2011
The Grove Trust 2010 Grants Awarded 2010 marked the year of "Youth Education" for The Grove Trust. We had the opportunity to meet with some fantastic organisations who are absolutely devoted to improving the lives of youth in our neighbourhood. Given the pressing needs and inspiring work of the four shortlisted charities, our members decided to allocate the funds amongst all four, and therefore the grants for 2010 were made to the following organisations: 1) Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust 2) Partnership for Supplementary Schools 3) The Video College 4) Westside School January 2011
Annual Members Meeting Our Annual Members Meeting was held on 26th January 2011. The main purpose of this meeting was to vote on our community based need for 2011. The vote went to 'Older People'. We also decided to continue our successful book collection on a bi-annual basis. December 2010
The Grove Trust Christmas Book Collection The Grove Trust organised a Christmas book collection for the four shortlisted charities for 2010. Local residents provided books, and then kind volunteers sorted the books by type and age appropriateness before the books were distributed to: Dalgarno Neighbourhood Trust, the Partnership for Supplementary Schools, Westside School and The Video College. |