Press Releases

“We’re thrilled to have been awarded this match-funding grant by the Englefield Charitable Trust, which we hope will encourage further match funding from businesses and charitable foundations across the Borough that want to collaboratively help reduce youth crime in London,” said Paul Anderson MBE, Chief Executive at Voyage Youth.

The Good Exchange reveals significant growth as it celebrates its second anniversary. The online matching platform for the charitable sector has now dispersed a total of £8.5m to good causes. In the second year of operations, the platform has experienced 76 percent year-on-year growth in grants and a 26 percent rise in donations made via its platform. New applicants are also up by 75 percent.

The #iwill Fund was created through £40 million of seed funding from Government, and the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund. It supports the aims of the #iwill campaign, to embed meaningful social action into the lives of young people. This includes activities such as campaigning, fundraising and volunteering, all of which enable young people to make a positive difference to their communities. Oxfordshire Community Foundation is acting as a match-funder and awarding grants on behalf of the Fund via The Good Exchange platform. OCF has already awarded £5,000 to arts charity The Story Museum for their ‘Young Producers’ project, and will be making grants on a rolling basis until the #iwill funds are spent. Other groups should therefore consider making applications as soon as possible.

The Good Exchange is supporting Oxford City Council’s Small Community Grants Programme 2018-2019. Oxford City Council provides £1.4m of grants every year to local charities and community groups. The grants are provided to organisations to help tackle inequality, deprivation and homelessness, and to promote arts and culture in the city. Oxford City Council has allocated £20,000 to the latest Small Grants Programme, following a successful pilot earlier this year, where the Council awarded grants of up to £1,000 available via The Good Exchange.

The Good Exchange has officially registered with the Fundraising Regulator.  The Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice requires fundraising platforms to take all reasonable steps to enable donors to make informed donation decisions including providing clear, transparent & accessible information on their services, fees & charges to ensure members of the public know where their donation is going & what their rights are in the event of a problem.

Oxford City Council has made a further £10,000 of small grants available for local charities and community groups through The Good Exchange.  A total of £20,000 has now been made available in the current round of the City Council’s Small Grants Scheme 2018 for organisations based in Oxford that promote equality, community cohesion, healthy living, or work to tackle poverty and deprivation.

London-based Voyage Youth has won a free fundraising project on The Good Exchange platform, following a prize draw at the NCVO Annual Conference in April 2018. The organisation’s core mission is to reduce the inequalities and disparities faced by young Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people in employment, education and community settings. Voyage is using the fundraising project to raise £47,700 for its flagship Young Leaders for Safer Cities (YLFSC) BTEC accredited course in leadership.