Six charities prepare for the perfect pitch in a bid to win up to £100,000

 Six local charitable organisations are one step closer to receiving up to £100,000 as their applications are shortlisted for this year’s well-respected Pitch to the Panel event. The winner(s) will be announced during an evening of entertainment on 8 May 2019, with live music from vocalist Nicole Johnson.

With a record 22 applicants this year, the six finalists will now have the opportunity to pitch their ground-breaking projects to a live audience and panel of judges, in a bid to secure a transforming amount of funding granted by Greenham Trust.

Hoping to extend the contract of its Community Outreach Worker and lease a new minibus, Age Concern Newbury & District (Fair Close Centre) is looking for £112,151. The minibus will increase the number of people they collect and drop home each day, enabling isolated people to be reached.

Breakthrough Learning is seeking £142,654 to pay for the rental of a building, allowing staff to have 1:1 intervention with larger numbers of children with special needs, parents and school staff. The funding will also help to run training sessions to equip children and their support networks with effective learning strategies. By empowering them with the skills to live more independently, they are able to take control of their emotions and behaviours.

Friends of Castle School is requesting £56,742 to build an all-weather outdoor sports track for children with complex learning difficulties. The track will provide a safe space for children to learn new skills and increase their fitness and wellbeing.

West Berkshire League of Friends is pitching for £57,853 for a new portable liver scanner for the Community Hospital. The Fibro scanner uses transient elastography which allows assessment of patients who are at risk of liver cirrhosis.

Also pitching are West Berkshire’s Domestic Abuse Service, requiring £39,413 to implement a helpline access service located in West Berkshire. The helpline will enable more victims to be reached and will provide access to specialist support.

Home-Start West Berkshire requires £133,571 for its Resilient Families incentive that supports families at risk of the early stages of inattention and neglect. Support staff will help to seek out families and children whose needs have previously been overlooked.  

You’ve been given the power to vote online for your favourite project from today, 6 May 2019, before supporters come together at the Corn Exchange, Newbury to find out whether the funds will be distributed across the six projects or one winner takes it all.

Deciding who gets the funding is this year’s panel of judges, Roland Gardner, chief executive, Newbury Building Society; Dr Abid Irfan, Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group chair and locality lead (Newbury and District); Gerry Lejeune, chief executive, Berkshire Community Foundation and Jayne Woodley, chief executive, Oxfordshire Community Foundation.

To celebrate and support the remarkable work carried out by local good causes, reserve your free ticket online at www.pitchtothepanel.com/y2019  or visit The Corn Exchange box office. Alternatively, you can call 0845 5218 218.