Working with our community and our local partners, we want to build an Elmbridge free from poverty where we can all thrive.
Last year, we committed more than £790,000 in grant funding to support local people and organisations. We continue to work with local partners to tackle poverty and inequality in Elmbridge, with a particular focus on child poverty.
Scroll down to read more about our impact across our five priority areas. Or download our full annual report here.
“2023-24 was another challenging year. Living costs continued to rise, putting extra pressure on household budgets. But thanks to the fantastic support from our local community and our strong local partnerships, we have been able to face these challenging times head on.”
Financial poverty and hardship
As living costs continue to rise, we are seeing more people across Elmbridge struggling to make ends meet.
In 2023-24, we committed more than £790,000 in grants to support our local community.
This included over £250,000 to fund everyday essentials such as food, clothing and utility bills.
Working with Walton & Hersham Foodbank, we continued to provide emergency food and support. Together we distributed 1,322 food parcels to 3,058 local people.
We also piloted a new approach to support working families struggling with the rising cost of living.
Our pilot project, The Bridge, offered food, household supplies, and practical support to working families in our area.
114 local families received support through The Bridge.
Local volunteers gave over 5,000 hours of time to The Bridge, foodbank, and green spaces.
A full blackboard of activities and advice available at The Bridge
Community
In 2023, Walton & Hersham Foodbank marked 10 years of operating in our local area. We challenged the community to fill 10 Minis with food donations to mark the anniversary. In total, 2.2 tonnes was donated - enough food to fill 20 Minis!
In January 2024, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh visited Burview Hall and some of our green spaces to learn more about our outdoor wellbeing projects and community partnerships.
146 volunteers from local companies and across our community generously gave their time to keep our foodbanks running and bring our green spaces to life.
Health and wellbeing
Our community grants, totalling £143,000, supported health and isolation projects across Elmbridge, including sessions for new parents, activities for refugees, and telephone counselling for people across the borough.
We also welcomed 47 volunteers at our community allotment, and continued to provide allotment plots for more than 450 local residents.
“Sitting down together over lunch is great. I hadn’t anticipated the social aspect of the allotment would be so important to me”
With funding from Your Fund Surrey, we also launched a programme of physical and mental activities at our new Tree Canopy project.
Affordable housing
Average house prices in Elmbridge are almost 14 times average earnings, and rents are nearly double the national average.
With the demand for affordable housing continuing to grow, we have worked with local partners to offer accommodation to people at risk of homelessness.
We also provided homes for 111 people in our two independent living almshouses.
“The best bit about living here is the warmth and social life. You are never really on your own”
Residents enjoying their Christmas lunch at our independent living schemes
Brooklands Innovation Academy
Education
Essentials like childcare cost more in Elmbridge than in many other parts of the country and, along with uniforms and other school costs, put extra pressure on already stretched households.
Last year, we funded £135,000 of skills training and catch-up sessions for young people from low-income families through our community grants programme.
“The Opportunities Fund has an enormous impact on pupils and their families, enabling them to attend residentials, trips and clubs they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. We ensure that every penny is used to help the families who need support.”
Continuing our support for local families, we awarded £75,000 through our Opportunities Fund to 23 schools to help with the cost of clubs, trips, uniform, food, and mental health support.
