Supporting the lives of older people in Bristol and the surrounding area has been part of the vision for St Monica Trust since it began 100 years ago. Today our Community Giving team helps tackle a variety of issues by distributing hundreds of thousands of pounds to individuals, families and organisations across the region. We provide gifts and grants that go directly to those who will benefit the most and we are committed to helping more people by increasing our giving over the next few years.
While 2020 has been the toughest of years for so many people, we have seen fantastic examples of communities coming together to support each other. Collaboration has been a key word this year and the St Monica Trust has been proud to work with a variety of organisations to improve the quality of life for older people during this pandemic. As we consider our future plans, it is obvious that we must continue to support organisations working together with a joint purpose. There are many fantastic examples of this already happening in the region, but as we start to plan a “new normal” future, working together has to be a priority in order to provide the best possible service to older people.
The St Monica Trust is interested in how our charitable contributions can have the best impact on the lives of older people across Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset. We talk regularly to many organisations in the region and through these conversations it has become apparent that there is increased demand for services that improve an older person's social contact, especially examples where older people are connected to each other to provide peer support.
I am proud to be able to release our Peer Support Fund which will help at least 5 projects to deliver peer support projects in the region. We are particularly looking for projects that connect older people to support each other and to feel empowered by the experience. We want participants to be able to reengage with their interests and their communities.
Please read our application guidelines and complete our application form before returning the completed form to us via email to communityimpact@stmonicatrust.org.uk
The deadline for applications is 19 February, 2021.
Application GuidelinesApplication Form
If you have any questions regarding the Peer Support Fund, please contact communityimpact@stmonicatrust.org.uk
Our aim is to help you live independently in your own community for as long as possible. We do this by helping you with items that you need, or by supporting you through a financial crisis.
We help people who satisfy the following criteria:
We help in two ways: we might provide you with a gift or we may offer you a short-term grant of monthly financial support to help you through a crisis. Whichever way we help, it will not affect your benefits, tax credits or tax.
A gift is a one-off item that we provide to you. We can help with a range of items, including:
This list doesn’t cover everything. We will always consider helping with anything that is going to make a positive difference to your everyday life.
Unfortunately, there are things which we can’t help with. These include:
A short-term grant is a monthly payment that is designed to help you through a crisis. The average grant is £110 per month, for an average of three to six months.
The kinds of issues we provide grants for are:
This is not an exhaustive list. Unfortunately, we cannot help with ongoing daily living costs.
We ask everyone who wants our help to fill in an application form. You can either complete the form online or contact us to request a paper copy in the post. If you have any difficulties filling it in, please contact the community fund team on 0117 949 4003 and we will be happy to assist.
Please note that due to an increase in demand our turn-around for individual giving is approximately four weeks.
The most common reason we turn down applications is because people do not meet our criteria. Please make sure that you check our criteria before you apply. If you are not sure whether to apply, please contact the community fund team to discuss your situation and we will be happy to advise you.
Speak to a member of our team
Make a funding application for individual giving online
If you have any questions or would like to talk to us, you can contact the Community Giving team on 0117 949 4003 or email communityimpact@stmonicatrust.org.uk
