African Families in the UK (AFIUK), a charity based in and supporting the communities of Colchester and the surrounding areas, has been awarded a community grant from the Essex Community Foundation and Saffron Building Society Community Fund.
AFIUK is a youth and women’s charity supporting African and ethnic minority families to take their rightful place as fruitful members of our society and to make the most of the available opportunities in their adopted country without adversely affecting the strong family and community networks that Africans are known for.
The grant, which is issued to the charity in 2022, will help to fund future initiatives, activities, education, and support programs for the community.
Lawrence Walker, training manager at AFIUK comments: “The grant is to support the young people of Colchester and the surrounding area. Several of our Youth Club projects are outreach initiatives that offer a wide spectrum of opportunities for young people as alternatives to getting involved in crime and the Criminal Justice System. This funding will allow AFiUK to develop, create and provide more projects for our young people and will provide support for the training and development of the youth leaders and project managers. Providing a greater capacity of delivery and supervision of youth activities.”
Community grants are issued every year by the Essex Community Foundation and Saffron Community Fund. To date over £100,000 has been issued by the society to local charities in need of financial support. In 2020, the society issued a further £19,000 across Essex, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire.
Claire Hunnable, Community Business Partner at Saffron Building Society, commented: “After passing a massive milestone last year, this is yet another milestone being broken as this is the most we have issued in grants in a single year. The array of different charities that apply for the grants provides us with quite a challenge when choosing which to fund. I had the pleasure of visiting AFIUK after we announced the grant they would be issued, and I was blown away by the number of initiatives the charity engages with, and to see the fantastic work they do in support of African and ethnic minority communities in Essex. I can’t wait to see these initiatives flourish with this extra funding.”
AFIUK Youth Club and other groups of young people from the community will be taking part in Colchester’s Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the Firstsite Museum in Colchester on 18th June. To find out more about this and the other initiatives from AFIUK, visit www.afiuk.org.
