A local primary school recently used part of their Opportunities Fund, awarded by Walton Charity, to buy two bikes and cycle helmets so that pupils whose families are unable to afford bikes can still take part in the school’s Bikeability training scheme.

Walton Charity awards Opportunities Funds to local schools each year to support students from low-income families with learning and other enrichment activities, ensuring they have access to the same opportunities as other students.

The school’s Business Manager believes the extra funding is important for ensuring all students can take part in activities and learn skills that will help them in the future.

“The Opportunities Fund really helps with promoting inclusivity at our school and ensuring no one is missing out.”

— School Business Manager

Walton Charity Delegated Funds are held by twelve local organisations who work directly with local Elmbridge residents on low incomes. The Funds can be particularly helpful during times of crisis or financial hardship but, used flexibly and creatively, they can help to find a route out of poverty.

One of our Delegated Fund holders, the Elmbridge Family Centre, provide support to families with children aged 0-11 years. Recently their Senior Family Support Worker, Katie Vinnicombe, shared some stories of local families helped through the Delegated Fund.

Lisa’s story

Lisa was recently referred to Elmbridge Family Centre for help. She’s a single mum who left her job working for a school catering company at the end of August. She had accepted a job with another company and was due to start on 1st September but, due to a delay in her DBS check, Lisa was unable to start her new job on the planned date. Using the Walton Charity Delegated Fund, the Elmbridge Family Centre could provide gas and electricity vouchers to help Lisa through her short-term crisis.

Clare’s story

Clare had heard about the Elmbridge Family Centre and approached them for help when she was struggling with her son’s behaviour. He had been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Clare was forced to give up work to home school him while the family waited for a place at a specialist school.

To add to the pressure facing the family, Clare’s husband lost his job during the Covid pandemic. Due to benefit delays, the family had accrued mortgage and utility bill arrears and were struggling to cover everyday costs. As soon as Harry was allocated a place at a specialist school, the Elmbridge Family Centre funded a new school uniform for both Harry and his sibling, taking some of the financial pressure off the family.

“The Delegated Fund allows us to make some, often very quick, judgement calls on helping a family when they can see no other way to get support……..We can support them quickly, taking additional pressure off the family.”

— Katie Vinnicombe

We work with local partners to tackle the causes and symptoms of poverty in Elmbridge, and support other charities to deliver services that meet the needs of the local community. One of the ways we do this is to provide affordable housing, office space, green space and other operational buildings.

As we emerge from the pandemic, we are interested to hear from not-for-profit organisations who need more affordable operational premises.

We want to hear your thoughts on:

• the sort of premises your organisation needs to help deliver your services.

• the facilities and amenities you need to operate.

• the times and / or days of the week you would like use of an Elmbridge community building.

We have some exciting opportunities we believe could deliver real benefits for our local community.

To send us your thoughts, ideas or to arrange an informal discussion, email Jackie Lodge at jlodge@waltoncharity.orguk.

“Everything we do, we do for the children. We want everyone to have the same opportunities to learn.”

— Lynn Williams, Head Teacher

We talked to Lynn Williams, Head of Chandlers Field Primary School, about some of the challenges local families are facing since Covid-19, and why more children than ever need help with basics like school uniforms.

Q. Each year Walton Charity gives funding to schools across Elmbridge to support low-income families with school-related costs. How does this funding help pupils and families at your school?

We believe that everyone at our school should have the same opportunity to learn. The funding from Walton Charity enables children to take part in activities and trips that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. For example, each year we are able to offer funding, giving some children the chance to take part in a residential trip that they would have otherwise missed out on.

We are also able help a lot of families with everyday essentials like school uniforms and school shoes that they simply can’t afford. As a school we try to keep uniform cost down by selling iron-on badges rather than branded uniforms and offering a Uniform Exchange but there are still lots of families who need help.

Clothing, school shoes, pens and pencils are things that people often take for granted but can make a real difference to how children feel about going to school. Children just want to feel the same as everyone else. We don’t want anyone to feel different.

Q. What other kind of support do you offer to local families?

Everything we do, we do for the children. And many of the ideas for initiatives at the school come from the children themselves. Our Uniform Exchange not only helps families to access free uniform, it also encourages recycling and cuts down on waste which is important to our school.

This year, for the first time, we are introducing a gift of a stationery pack for children who are not able to get their own pens and pencils. It’s something we haven’t needed to do before.

During the Covid lockdowns and the school holidays we were also able to help with food for our families. There was often a delay between families registering for the government food box scheme and receiving supplies, so we stepped in and made sure families had food. We also helped with internet access and computers to support home schooling and opened the school to some of our most vulnerable children.

Q. Have you noticed an increase in demand for support since Covid hit last year?

There were families who were struggling before the pandemic so I wouldn’t say the demand is worse, but it is definitely more widespread. During the first lockdown we started to hear from (and about) families who have never needed help before. Our Family Support Worker has had to be proactive because many families who were struggling were reluctant (or didn’t know how) to ask for help.

Lockdown had a significant impact on lots of local families emotionally and financially. People lost their jobs or weren’t eligible for the furlough scheme. Some faced housing issues, and many struggled to cover the increased cost of being at home - especially the food and utility bills. We have helped a lot of families this year with back-to-school costs and expect to see the effects of lockdown and the pandemic, on some families, for at least another year.

Q. People are often surprised to hear that more than 12% of children across Elmbridge are living in poverty (according to End Child Poverty data). What is your experience of local poverty as a headteacher?

It’s worth remembering that the 12% is an average across the borough, there are some pockets within Elmbridge where poverty rates are much higher. A very high percentage of children at our school are eligible for Pupil Premium support and free school meals. It’s not what a lot of people would expect in Surrey.

Although we get Pupil Premium funding from the government to support the most vulnerable children at our school, there is a whole band of children who don’t quite meet the criteria but who need support. Funding from Walton Charity helps us to plug this gap and make sure no one at our school is left behind.

A child’s experience at primary school is paramount to their future. It sets them on a successful learning journey. We want to do everything we can to make sure it is a positive experience.

Last year Walton Charity gave Opportunities Funds to 11 local schools. We also funded catch up programmes, online learning and extra computers at schools across Elmbridge . Through our Back to School Appeal, we are helping more local children have a great start back to school this year.

On Monday 13th September, Walton Charity’s staff were both delighted and honoured to receive The Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate of Appreciation for our work during the Covid pandemic.

The presentations took place at a special event, held at the Riverhouse Barn in Walton, where six #Elmbridge organisations were presented with certificates from Deputy Lieutenant, Rob Douglas.

The Lord Lieutenant’s Certificates of Appreciation were launched in February 2021, with the aim of recognising those who contribute exceptional service to our local communities, but whose efforts are often overlooked.

During the pandemic, we totally changed the support model for our sheltered residents and our community allotment volunteers, ensuring that they felt safe and supported. Through a programme of virtual events and activities, they were able to keep in touch with staff and each other, learn new skills, and try their hand at new activities.

Recognising the increased need for financial support for both residents and local organisations, we increased our financial support and committed a record £557,579 in grants funding.

During lockdown, when children were unable to attend school, we launched our ‘Computers for Kids’ Appeal, and donated 57 new laptops to #Elmbridge schools, enabling underprivileged children to access home learning.

Other #Elmbridge organisations to receive awards were: Relate West Surrey, Home-Start Elmbridge, North West Surrey Samaritans, Walton & Hersham Foodbank, and The Surrey Coffee Co.

On 20 July - a day after Covid restrictions were eased across England - the Mayor of Elmbridge helped us to bury a time capsule filled with items that symbolise life during the recent lockdowns.

From handcrafted rainbows to face masks and ‘panic buy’ toilet rolls, the items in the time capsule will help future generations understand more about life during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our sheltered housing residents and volunteers from our Community Allotment also contributed recipes, letters and poems reflecting on their life during 2020.

Jackie Lodge, Walton Charity Chief Executive said, “As well as creating a historical record of what it was like to live and work during a national lockdown, we wanted to capture the ways Walton Charity and its partners supported the local community during the pandemic. We were also keen to capture the positivity and resilience of both our sheltered residents and the local community.”

The time capsule is buried in the gardens of Mayfield, one of our sheltered housing properties.

We are pleased to be able to continue supporting a local football project for a further year, enabling them to offer free-of-charge football sessions on a weekly basis.

The KT One Two project, professionally coached by Elite Sporting Provision, is delivered three times a week from
Walton Oak School in Ambleside Avenue, Walton. The sessions are aimed at children who live in St Johns, Field Common, Longmore, and Vicarage Fields estates and supports up to 60 children from 6 to 14 years of age.

The project is particularly aimed at children who may miss out on the chance to engage in social and sporting programmes during their junior years. It provides the opportunity to learn skills, build confidence, make social connections, as well as improving physical, mental, and social well-being.

One parent said “I have three boys that attend the football sessions with Adam and Mark. Two of them go on Monday and the other on Tuesday. We can’t afford to send the boys to football clubs …………. The sessions are the highlight of the boy’s week and ask all the time if it’s on next week! They say the best bit is to be with their ‘football friends’ even if it’s raining!”