BCBN was honoured to hold its 4th and final Grant Award Ceremony of the year in support of the Reach Service and projects that assist the elderly on Monday 7th December. The delightful evening of engagement and award presentations was held at the enchanting Florence Nightingale Museum.Considered the most influential woman in Victorian Britain after Queen Victoria, Florence Nightingale is famous for being the ‘Lady with the Lamp’ who organised the nursing of sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, her far-sighted ideas and reforms having had a big impact on modern healthcare. Guests were treated to a guided tour around the museum which boasts a large historical collection of items, such as the Turkish lantern she used in the Crimean War and spans most of her life. A superb setting and testament to a compassionate and pioneering lady, who was all about caring for others.

On the evening the Reach Services project, based at the hospital, received an award of £18,059 from BCBN for the third year running, since government cuts had pre-empted its possible closure. The Reach Service carries out life-changing work providing assistance to the victims of domestic abuse, disadvantaged people in vulnerable relationships and social support to families in crisis, helping to rebuild their lives. One in four women experience domestic violence or abuse at some point in there lives and over a hundred women a year lose their lives.

BCBN would like to express a very special thank you to our sponsors and donors from within the community for supporting us. Other BCBN Grant Initiative beneficiaries who were awarded during the evenings ceremony included:

Black Princes Trust operate community sports, health and exercise sessions for the local community. BCBN’s grant of £3000 to the community hub in Lambeth will help provide sport activities through the use of a health mentor and fitness trainer working with vulnerable and often margenalised people. Philip Bobia will provide free sport sessions and exercise classes to disabled and elderly people from the Ethelred Estate, South London.

Age UK is the country’s largest charity dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life. BCBN’s grant of £3,000 will help fund Age UK’s Winter Warmth programme and support local Age UK partners to provide items such as home energy checks and packs containing warm clothing and food, helping to keep older people warm and safe this winter.

BCBN’s final award was given to another incredible cause – Muslim Aid, a leading British Muslim relief and development agency seeking to tackle poverty in partnership with The HEET project, formed by local residents wanting to see more community action to tackle the problems of climate change and fuel poverty. BCBN’s donation of £2,995.36 will help to reduce the impact of winter on the health of 194 vulnerable and fuel poor elderly people, in Enfield and Waltham Forest, through the installation of 388 daught excluders and 970 radiator reflectors.