Help Lydia raise funds for Stevenage Community Trust, as she takes on the London Landmarks Half Marathon!

Stevenage Community Trust is an independent charity that provides funding and support to local charitable organisations, community groups and individuals who find themselves in crisis.

The Trust was first established in 1990 by the then mayor, Hilda Lawrence and is entirely funded by business members and donors from local businesses, private donors and individual members from within the community. Together they have enabled us to distribute in excess of £2m in grants since our inception.

The primary benefit of our charity for the community is that we are able to react quickly and efficiently to requests for help for urgent cases of hardship throughout the year. Applications are sent to us from a wide range of Stevenage supporting services including Citizens Advice, Stevenage Borough Council, NHS, Social Services, Schools and many more. Applications are quickly assessed by our Grants Committee and approved grants are then processed immediately.

We give heating grants to families who are struggling to pay their energy bills, and hardship grants to people who have no food, furniture or everyday items. We also give away Christmas gift cards each year to the poorest families with children in our community.

Grants are also given to a wide range of community projects, helping to bring people together and improve wellbeing.

In summary:

• £2million has been given to local people in grants since 1990

• 100% of grants are given to people in and around Stevenage

• 20,000+ local people benefit each year

• We are ultra-lean with zero office costs

• We give grants for heating, food, furniture, community projects, schools, sports and special needs

• We totally depend on donations from generous businesses and people.