Case study: 3

Funder: American Express
Project: Various
Location: Sussex

Channelling its funds through Sussex Community Foundation, American Express supports some 22 charities in the county.

One is City Gate Community Projects, which received a grant to help distribute surplus food from supermarkets to day centres and night shelters for homeless people. The initiative encourages unemployed and homeless people to volunteer and provides training and support to help them get back into work. It is addressing the immediate need for food while also tackling underlying problems of low self-esteem or lack of a history of employment.

Amex also supported the “Breakin’ Convention” event, an explosive performance by the International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre that included participation from local community school children, as part of the 2007 Brighton Festival. The performance gave young people from local schools the chance to perform at Brighton’s Dome alongside professional dancers, and included freestyle dancing, installations of graffiti art and workshops before the show.

Meanwhile, Brighton & Hove Parents and Children Group works throughout the year to help families on low incomes in the city. Sharon Halsall from the group says: “We used our grant to give local children a fun-filled day out in the countryside – for some of them it was their only outing of the year.”