Funders and Supporters

Awards for All is a National Lottery grant scheme and has provided Kindling with a number of grants (of just under £10,000) for a number of community-engagement projects over several years. The support from Awards for All was crucial in enabling us to pilot our social prescribing programme with carers groups at our Woodbank Community Food Hub.

"Awards for All is a fantastic fund to help out with those modest projects with the community at their heart. This small fund has made a big impact on our community engagement work" Corrina.

The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation is one of the leading independent grant-making foundations in the UK. The Foundation has supported Kindling over many years to strengthen projects like the Land Army and establish enterprises like Manchester Veg people. They were one of the first funders to recognise the potential of the planned Kindling Farm, funding feasibility studies and research into the idea.

"We are indebted to Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for seeing the potential in our vision right at the beginning of our establishment and we continue to benefit from their support of the broader sustainable food movement" Helen Woodcock.

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is funded by Defra and is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

“We are so excited by this opportunity given to us by the Green Recovery Fund. Not only is it the start of a hugely important fight back for diversity in agriculture, but it is our first tangible step to establish a nationally important example of Agroforestry using heritage fruit varieties on the planned Kindling Farm”   Helen Woodcock.

JRCT is supporting Kindling through its Sustainable Futures programme of grants. Their overall focus is on developing and promoting sustainable, low-carbon alternatives to the current consumerist and growth-based paradigm and are supporting us with a four year grant to help cover our core costs.

"We could not have asked for a more understanding and supportive funder during the covid-19 pandemic. Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust have both extended the period of our funding and offered additional support, acknowledging the huge strain our sector is under" Chris.

Postcode Local Trust is a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People's Postcode Lottery. In the past they have supported our community activities and community garden at Woodbank Community Food Hub. More recently they are helping us to engage a wide range of citizens in Greater Manchester to establish a community-owned, pioneering agroforestry farm and centre for social change.

"During lockdown we saw a huge increase in interest in local food and a hunger for what we do, but we are a still a small team. The Postcode Local Trust have enabled us to employ a part-time community engager who will be able to reach out to different communities, giving them a voice in how Kindling Farm will be run and improving their access to local, organic fruit and veg."  Helen.

The A Team Foundation initially supported Kindling with a grant to establish our FarmStart programme, helping to fund a co-ordinator and farm machinery. Ever since they have been hugely encouraging and supportive of our work to create sustainable food supply chains. Their most recent grant, in the spring of 2020, is to help organisations deal with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown and make sustainable food more accessible to more people.

"This strategically important funder punches well above its weight by working with others to encourage collaboration between organisations and funders. Their support and guidance and advocacy is really appreciated by us and our partners" Helen Woodcock.

The National Lottery Community Fund supports organisations with great ideas that enable communities to thrive. The Kindling Trust have received support over a 5 year period to develop and run all of our projects at Woodbank Community Food Hub in Stockport. This support has enabled us to employ a number of people at the Hub including a Farmstart Coordinator and a Community Cook.

"The support from the Community Fund has been transformative. With their help we are creating a flagship community food hub for Stockport and from the outset they saw the potential in our team and community" Matt.

Unicorn Grocery supports our work to bring about a more sustainable food system, supporting our Land Army and FarmStart projects. They have a dedicated fund to support new and fledgling growers which paid for a veg preparation and storage unit and will mean that we can generate more income from the veg we grow.

"Unicorn Grocery understands the challenges of starting out in organic farming and the effort required to sustain a food growing business and their Grower's Fund is unique in the region. We are very grateful for their ongoing support" Helen Dodd.

Kindling’s Helen Woodcock is a Winston Churchill Fellow and is one of 21 projects run by Fellows that are being supported by the Trust’s Covid-19 Action Fund to combat the pandemic’s effects in healthcare and food supply.

"It has been a real privilege to be a Winston Churchill Fellow, having been supported to visit projects I'd never have dream I'd have the time or resources to learn from. But not only that they have continued to support my work during the pandemic to continue to put into practice the lessons I learnt from my study visits" Helen Woodcock.