Kent Community Foundation

Kent Community Foundation strengthens resilient, inclusive, thriving local communities by channeling philanthropy to grassroots charities tackling disadvantage, isolation, and barriers to wellbeing, opportunity, and participation. Grounded in values of community-led action, equity, inclusion, sustainable development, and cross-sector partnerships, their philosophy prioritizes modest investments in small organizations for outsized impact, believing lasting change arises from empowering local leadership, building third-sector capacity, and fostering tailored responses to enduring social challenges through authentic relationships and feedback-driven grantmaking.

They support children, young people, and families via mental health counselling, suicide prevention, therapeutic activities, after-school clubs, mentoring, positive youth development, protective interventions, and family support addressing physical wellbeing, anxiety, depression, and crisis prevention; vulnerable adults through peer support groups, advocacy, social inclusion programs combating discrimination, poor mental health, and social exclusion; elderly and isolated individuals with befriending schemes, transport services, independent living support, and loneliness alleviation; employability initiatives including skills training, confidence-building workshops, enterprise development, youth unemployment programs, and livelihood support for disadvantaged young people and adults; environmental projects like community-led green space improvements, local food redistribution tackling food insecurity, sustainable living education, and habitat protection. Funded activities encompass project grants, core costs, capacity building, emergency crisis response, seed funding, and social enterprise loans enabling holistic, preventative, person-centred, trauma-informed interventions such as outreach, drop-in centres, creative arts, sports, and early intervention.

They exclude statutory provision, retrospective funding, and non-local activities, prioritizing charities deeply embedded in local communities serving children at risk, families in crisis, vulnerable adults facing exclusion, isolated elderly, unemployed youth, and disadvantaged residents through grassroots, community-led models. Distinctive for sole focus on hyper-local needs, rapid crisis response like refugee support, preference for smaller organizations with lived experience leadership, and emphasis on unrestricted funding, innovation, and blended finance to sustain inclusive resilience and evidence-based community transformation.