Our Ben is a founder member of the Norfolk Community Foundation Future Fund, and was delighted to be a part of the Foundation’s fifth Dragon’s Den style funding event with four deserving charities receiving a share of over £20,000! Photography for the event was donated by Naked Marketing and our Jodie captured the mood of the evening perfectly.

This year’s Dragon’s Den was held at The Hostry, Norwich Cathedral and hosted by Graham Tuttle, CEO of Norfolk Community Foundation,  vice patron, Carol Bundock DL and Mustard TVs Chris Bailey. 

About with Friends, SIMPLE Norfolk, Time Norfolk and Littlelifts pitched their charity projects to an audience of 60 ‘dragons’ for a share of a £10,000 funding pot which has been created by members of the Norfolk Future Fund who contribute a regular amount to build the Fund. Guests made personal pledges to the tune of just over £10,000 on top of this and the charities left with over £20,000 between them to support their work.  The Norfolk Future Fund is a collective giving circle that was established in 2014 to help local business people and individuals to make a positive, and more effective impact in their community by giving as a group.  As well as giving money, members are encouraged to get involved by lending their skills and experience to charities that would benefit from professional support or volunteering.

About the charities:

About with Friends supports children and adults with learning disabilities in Cromer, to make friends, enjoy a social life, learn skills for work and independence and be part of the community. Members get involved in a range of experiences including gardening maintenance for residents around the local area and gaining work practice in the community café and when catering events.

Time Norfolk provides free, confidential support to women and their partners who have experienced a pregnancy loss through miscarriage, termination or still birth. They also provide care for women who are facing an unplanned or complicated pregnancy or have other pregnancy related issues such as pre or post-natal depression or infertility.

SIMPLE Norfolk offers free services and support to the community, especially to youth and minorities, in order to promote cohesion. They provide mentoring to young people, with advice and guide in education, careers, and general progression issues whilst transitioning into adulthood.

Littlelifts is a newly established charity and provides comfort boxes to women receiving chemotherapy treatment for primary breast cancer at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. The boxes contain items designed to ‘lift’ the spirit of the recipient and also practical items designed to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy.

Thank you to all of those who helped to make the event a success including The Hostry events team, Carol Bundock DL and Chris Bailey amongst others! A special thank you to Barratt and Cooke who kindly sponsored the evening. 

If you would like to know more about how you can join and get involved with the Norfolk Future fund, contact Helen Tuttle on 01603 623958 or helentuttle@norfolkfoundation.com.

23.11.17