Visit www.cdcf.org.uk to donate to our Poverty Hurts Appeal 2022. This Appeal page has closed.

The Poverty Hurts Appeal has raised an incredible £62,667 and unlocked a further £5155 in match funding. The team at County Durham Community Foundation have also donated the money we saved on travel expenses due to the pandemic - £7000. In total this makes £74,822 raised to help those in need this winter. Thank you all so much for helping us support communities in County Durham and Tees Valley.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so generously to this Appeal: to those who have given their fuel allowance cheques, to new donors, to existing donors who have given too and to everyone who has taken on a fundraising challenge for the Appeal. We are already making grants that will change lives for the better this winter! You are all amazing!

*Our huge thanks to all that have given so far, including The Banks Group (£5,000) and UMi (£4,000) We are on the verge of making our first grants as a result of this phenomenal response to the Appeal! Updates to follow.

Your donation will support children without winter coats or shoes, families living in fuel poverty; and senior citizens who feel forgotten and frightened. The Poverty Hurts Appeal is about bringing businesses and individuals together to fight excess winter deaths, reduce poverty-related misery, and help the one-in-three local children living in poverty.

- One-in-three children in the region now live in poverty, and in some areas, the number is even higher. 46% of children in Middlesbrough are classed as living in poverty

- 12% of North-East households cannot keep their accommodation warm enough, and Ofgem is intending to lift its cap on energy prices for the third time this year in October

- 328 excess winter deaths were recorded in Tees Valley in 2018-19 and a further 230 were recorded in County Durham. Excess winter deaths have been strongly linked to colder homes where there is fuel poverty.

Your donation to the Poverty Hurts Appeal will support families and senior citizens on the breadline this winter. Donations will help reduce poverty and its causes and help make sure no-one must choose between heating or eating.

County Durham Community Foundation is leading the way by donating the £7k we saved in travel expenses because of the pandemic. Businesses that are new to the Foundation could also unlock match funding by donating. Please apply for match funding by filling in this very short form.

Please specify if you would like your donation to support people in County Durham or Tees Valley in your donation message.

For further information, visit www.cdcf.org.uk

*Ts and Cs apply, and can be read here. Photos are for illustrative purposes. Names and some details have been changed in case studies to protect anonymity. The Poverty Hurts Appeal 2021 is raising money to support local families, senior citizens, individuals and children experiencing difficulties this winter. This support will happen through a series of grants, funded through monies raised by the Appeal, which will be issued to pre-identified charities and community groups (Groups) previously supported by the Foundation. Every Group that receives a grant will be local to their community and have a track record of offering advice, support and practical help to those in need.