The Localgiving team pick some of their highlights from 2022. 

As another year comes to an end all the team here at Localgiving are very proud to have played a big role in connecting thousands of grassroots organisations with donations, fundraising grants, resources and support. From individual fundraising pages, to grants from Magic Little Grants, National Grid and Crowdfund Wales and more, we’ve helped support all types of charities and CIC’s up and down the UK writes Luke Upton, our Head of Communications.

And we’ve got big plans for 2023, as you’ll have seen already we’ve done some work updating our branding and website with further changes to come, improved how we receive donations and showcased for the first time in detail our community stories to name just a few exciting developments.

Before we finish for a break over Christmas, I spoke to some of the team here to find out which of all the charities we’ve helped support were their particular favourites:

Serena, our Head of Technology, appreciated the work of Gendered Intelligence, one of the few trans led charities in the UK, who do a wide variety of work in helping trans people, including professional and educational services that help organisations become more inclusive, youth and community support, grassroots projects as well as targeted support for those who need it most.

For Lauren, our Wales National Manager, a particular highlight was Circus Eruption; “They are always so enthusiastic, fully engaged in making the most of every opportunity and I have loved seeing how they have developed their building. They acquired an old church in Swansea (pictured right) which I visited in its most dire state, and they have wonderful plans to make use of its full height and beautiful space to create a fantastic circus environment that gets the community and lots of young people involved for free, including their recent addition of a warm space this winter. I’m excited to see what they do next!”

Ellis, in our customer support team, has been inspired by Cerulean Blue which was set up to support bereaved families of nurses, remembering those who gave their lives caring for patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. They raise funds to support families when they are living through personal or financial hardship felt because of bereavement. They were awarded a Magic Little Grant this year for the first time, and as Ellis states; “do such important work to alleviate trauma in a historically undervalued profession.”

Also, in our customer support team, Cara was happy to see us helping Pushing Up Daisies, a Scottish charity, that is committed to the relief of the newly bereaved during that challenging period between a death and a funeral, the advancement of education in the care of bodies at home after death and the advancement of health related to grief.

For me, among the many highlights of 2023 was The Return of the Pilgrim / Dychweliad y Perenin, a Localgiving supported campaign to re-erect a spectacular sculpture of a pilgrim on the hilltop (pictured left) above the ruins of the famous Strata Florida Abbey in the Welsh Cambrian Mountains. The original version collapsed in 2019 due to bad weather, the local community decided to resurrect it and raised £7500 this year through Localgiving and returned Y Pererin to his rightful place! 

We are really excited for new year, and to help support even more great causes like this in 2023 and beyond. From all the team here, we wish you a happy Christmas and a healthy and fulfilling new year!

Luke Upton and all the Localgiving team.