The Community Foundation has set up the Cost-of-Living Fund to support charities and community organisations in Tyne & Wear and Northumberland so they can help the people most affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Our focus is on helping small, local organisations that are facing greater demand on their services at the same time as rising costs.

We are concerned that the cost-of-living crisis will make an already bad situation worse for people who are poor and vulnerable. But the very local charities and community organisations which are there to help will themselves struggle because of increased demand, rising costs, and the falling value of their income and reserves. So, we want to support these organisations to do what they do best: support people on the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis. We want to make sure they have the capacity and resources to serve local communities during the autumn and winter of 2022-2023. Because if these organisations cant keep their lights on, people will be faced with nowhere to go for the vital help theyll need.

We are starting the fund with £100,000 from the Community Foundations unrestricted money.

We are now calling on businesses, individuals and funders, to help us grow the fund so we can make more of a difference.