Car dealer Dick Lovett pledges £100,000 to Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Care Leavers scheme

• Swindon & Wiltshire Social
• Tuesday, July 23, 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Prestige car dealer Dick Lovett has pledged £100,000 to Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Care Leavers programme.

The scheme will support care leavers in Wiltshire and Swindon, where the regional car dealer – whose brands include Aston Martin, Ferrari, Land Rover, Porsche, BMW and MINI – is based.

The Care Leavers Program is a new £3.6m national matching fund scheme involving 17 community foundations.

The initiative will run for three years and is managed by UK community foundations.

The project is funded by the Local Authorities’ Mutual Investment Trust, a shareholder in the UK’s largest charitable asset manager, CCLA.

In April, Wiltshire Community Foundation was selected to receive £40,000 a year for three years from the scheme, which was to be equity funded.

The Lovett Foundation, Dick Lovett’s charitable arm, has agreed to donate £100,000 to the project over five years.

Established in 2019, the Lovett Foundation supports children in care and young adults leaving care in the South West and Wales by providing them with support, life skills and experiences that will contribute to a brighter future.

When setting up the foundation, the executive team at Dick Lovett wanted to focus their charitable giving on an area of ​​need and where there is a current gap in financial support and formally partnered with Wiltshire Community Foundation in March to help care leavers around the world. County.

In England alone, there were 46,000 care leavers aged 17-21 in 2022.

Deficiencies in transitional and practical support mean care leavers are often less likely to receive the help they need to make a fresh start as young adults.

Gaps in support were found when it comes to relationships and mentoring, education, employment and mental health.

A spokesman for Dick Lovett said: “We are delighted to begin our partnership with Wiltshire Community Foundation.

“It will help us direct the money we raise through fundraising to the right places, particularly to support young people leaving the care system.

“Together we can make sure they get the opportunities they deserve.”

Wiltshire Community Foundation’s director of philanthropy, Oliver Selfe, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Dick Lovett to deliver our Care Leaver programme.

“This is a remarkable commitment from them to agree to help fund the project for five years and will mean the program can have a greater and more sustained impact. We are extremely grateful for their generosity.

“Leavers unfortunately face many challenges to overcome and it is absolutely vital that they have access to the same opportunities as their peers.

“Thanks to support from the Lovett Foundation, as well as funding from Community Foundations UK and LAMIT, we can offer care leavers greater support and opportunities.”

In partnership with Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council, Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Care Leaver Program will work to increase mentoring and coaching opportunities for care leavers.

The program aims to improve employment opportunities for care leavers by increasing their entry into higher and further education and vocational training by expanding our university bursaries and vocational support programmes.

It will also increase opportunities for care leavers to have fun and experience new adventures working with local providers.

Pictured: Wiltshire Community Foundation Program Director Heather Kiel (left) and Philanthropy Director Oliver Selfe (centre) with Victoria Bond, Olivia Fearon and Emma Newton from the Lovett Foundation