Luton's Ameina Centre in Ambleside wins a £10,000 grant and business planning help from Community Catalyst, so its founder can spend more time on services.
The Ameina Centre in Ambleside has been awarded a £10,000 grant, plus a spell of one-to-one help from a consultant, to strengthen the charity and take its work further across Luton.
The money and the support come from Community Catalyst, a programme run by a group of housing associations for small voluntary and community organisations working in social housing areas. The centre was put forward for it by Peabody, the housing association, which announced the grant.
What the centre does
The Ameina Centre has been supporting people in Luton since 2012. Its work, as Peabody describes it, includes:
- health and wellbeing sessions for older people
- youth programmes and holiday activities
- a girls’ football club
- a weekly food pantry
The charity now plans to build on that and expand the support it offers across the town.
What the grant pays for
The grant is a capacity building award, which means it pays for the running of the organisation rather than a single project. At the Ameina Centre it will go on administration and HR support and staff training. The point, according to Peabody, is to give founder and director Rose Davis more time to develop the services that local people actually use.
Before the money arrived, a consultant from the programme worked with the centre to refine its business plan. Rose Davis said the programme:
“gave us room to think out loud, hear what was being said and proceed with the changes we needed to make in order to get to where we want to be.”
What Peabody said
Karen Lawson, community investment lead at Peabody, referred the centre to the programme. She said:
“Ameina Centre has been doing fantastic work in Luton for many years and really understands its community. Rose and the team have built something really valuable over the years, which we have been lucky to work alongside. It’s great that this funding and support will help them strengthen their work and reach even more local people. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next.”
Tina Kessie, operational lead for the Community Catalyst programme at Peabody, said:
“Grassroots organisations play a vital role in their communities, bringing people together and providing support that makes a real difference locally. Community Catalyst helps them build on that work, strengthen their organisations and plan for the future so they can keep supporting people over the long term.”
The programme in numbers
Community Catalyst is led by Clarion Futures, alongside Peabody, the Fusion21 Foundation, Places for People and Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH). According to Clarion’s programme page, it will support 270 organisations over three years, backed by more than £3 million.
- Around £450,000 was awarded across England in the first round.
- Eight of the organisations funded in that round were referred by Peabody, with almost £80,000 going to groups that work with the housing association across London and the South East.
- A second round is now under way.
What it means for you
If you already use the Ameina Centre, for the pantry, the football or the older people’s sessions, the grant is aimed at keeping those going and adding to them, not replacing them.
If you run a small Luton charity or community group, note how the programme works: groups are referred to it by one of the housing association partners, then get free, impartial one-to-one advice on areas such as governance, business planning, fundraising, finances, volunteering and evaluation. A grant of up to £10,000 may follow where it meets a need the advice has identified. The Community Catalyst page also carries a free library of training videos and resources open to anyone.
Got news from your Luton charity, club or school? Send us your news.
Have your say