Wokingham United Charities

Wokingham United Charities, one of England’s oldest institutions founded in 1451 and now an amalgamation of 21 historic local charities, is dedicated to relieving poverty, hardship, and distress among Wokingham Borough residents. Its mission centers on enhancing life quality through affordable almshouse accommodation for older people at Westende and a Relief in Need fund offering grants to individuals and organizations. Guided by values of community, opportunity, respect, and integrity, it emphasizes innovation, sustainability, and preventative strategies to break cycles of deprivation, with proactive governance via staggered trustee terms ensuring diverse, skilled leadership.

The charity prioritizes tackling financial hardship, mental health and wellbeing, employability, life opportunities, and root causes of poverty via core costs, unrestricted multi-year support (e.g., Charity Champions), capacity building, small capital, and innovative projects. Recent grantees include Home-Start Wokingham (core support), Citizens Advice (outreach), PACT (domestic abuse), and 4Es (employability), alongside community gardens and visually impaired initiatives. Individual grants for essentials like white goods or counselling require professional referrals for swift, dignified aid.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities, CICs, community groups, social enterprises, and schools primarily benefiting Wokingham residents, with a preference for small to medium-sized local entities; no strict income limits apply, but large nationals are deprioritized unless locally focused. Applications are unsolicited via online form on a rolling basis (decisions often within two weeks), with themed programs like Christmas Cheer having deadlines (e.g., October). Typical organizational grants range £10,000–£20,000, up to multi-year exceedances; individuals £100–£1,000. Exclusions include non-local beneficiaries and self-referrals; it stands out for blending housing provision, flexible funding for resilience, and close statutory partnerships in place-based, transformative poverty relief.