Raising funds for a sustainable forum
The Forum is run entirely by unpaid volunteers motivated by a desire to give something back to the community they love. On a day to day basis, a Forum team of around 8 people sort out details of running the Forum (event planning, community surveys, meetings, publicity, website etc); as well as leading research and analysis of information and feedback supporting effective implementation of the Neighbourhood Plan.
An important ethos underpinning our activities is to do all we can to include and involve the whole community in having a voice in shaping future development of our villages. For a Neighbourhood Area of our size, it's a big undertaking. However, a downside of successfully completing the Neighbourhood Plan is that your Forum no longer has recourse to any grant funding to sustain its continued work on planning - and now also its wider charitable purposes - to deliver community benefit.
It’s never easy asking for donations, but two years on from completing the Neighbourhood Plan our continued operation depends on support from our community.
We are asking for you to show your support through a £10 year’s subscription. Less than £1 a month will enable us to continue our work to:
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actively inform, engage, debate and reflect community views on the future of our villages through newsletters, public open meetings (Covid allowing), special events, topic-based workshops etc
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act as custodian of your KDBH Neighbourhood Plan, providing planning expertise to help ensure implementation of the Plan to protect and enhance the character of our villages, address local need and promote sustainable development
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raise awareness of, and provide guidance and support on, opportunities for community funding
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support and collaborate with other community-led organisations to deliver community benefit through our wider charitable purposes.
It's important to note that donations are needed not to fund the team, all of whom are volunteers who continue to offer their skills and time for free; the funds raised will go directly to meeting the necessary costs of operating a Forum professionally and effectively across our very large neighbourhood of c. 20,000 people. Costs such as web and other software and IT infrastructure, printing and publicity, running and attending public events, undertaking surveys, company insurance, specialist training etc. Our annual accounts will, of course, continue to show you (and the Charities Commission) how funds raised have been spent in meeting our charitable purposes for the benefit of our KDBH community.
We use the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) to process donations for us via credit/debit card or Paypal. You can make a donation by clicking the Donate button.