BNENC tackles the root causes of poverty

Breckfield & North Everton Neighbourhood Council (BNENC) – winner of Best Small Charity at the SMF Awards 2024 – has been supporting the local community through its Anti-Poverty and Welfare Rights programme with funding support from the Steve Morgan Foundation.

How we first began supporting BNENC

The Steve Morgan Foundation first started working with BNENC in 2019. SMF funded the Programme Coordinator role for the Kickstarter Health Programme, which has helped BNENC to develop strong links with the NHS and Liverpool John Moores University.

Through this partnership they launched the Social Prescribing programme where Year 2 student nursing staff spend four weeks with the charity to gain an understanding on how they can engage with members of the community whilst they are undergoing treatment. As a result of this work, BNENC were awarded the Kitemark for Excellence in Learning and Care from the NHS & LJMU.

The Anti-Poverty and Welfare Rights programme

The Foundation also provided the funding for two qualified Welfare Rights workers to operate its Anti-Poverty and Welfare Rights programme, the area with the biggest need within the charity’s community. The programme supports those in need in a variety of ways through outreach sessions across the community and from the Breckfield Centre.

It operates a baby bank, which provides new mothers and families with advice, support and supplies such as baby formula, safety equipment and nappies, an emergency food bank that allows individuals to access three days’ worth of food up to three times a year, the ‘warm hub’ for free hot drinks and food during the cold months along with so much more.

Beneficiaries may also be eligible for Fuel Vouchers or BNENC’s School Uniform Programme.

Breckfield & North Everton Neighbourhood Council are eager to address the root causes of poverty and debt. The welfare team have helped many people by looking at benefit maximisation and has secured £1.6million of backdated and new benefits for people in the community.

The programme is available to any individuals in need and can be accessed by referral from a GP, social services, a registered social landlord, Liverpool City Council as well as self-referrals by attending one of the drop-in outreach centres.

Leveraging their award success

As winners of the Best Small Charity award, BNENC received £10,000 from the Steve Morgan Foundation and has made a conscious decision to share 50% of the prize fund between the community organisations it supports, including the Alley Angels – who clean alley gates and alleyways in the area, a local dance school to fund new equipment and costumes, the army cadets for new equipment, and Axel – an amputee support charity, to name a few.

The other 50% has gone into brightening up the Breckfield centre and the events that are held there. So far, it has funded two family fun days with food, entertainment and games.

CEO and founder of BNENC, Bob Blanchard stated:

“We wanted to use the prize money to do something that will positively impact as many people in our community as possible. Sharing the pot in this way has been a win-win for everyone.

“We are extremely grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation for their ongoing support and recognising the work we do, particularly with the Anti-Poverty and Welfare Rights programme.”

About BNENC

The Breckfield & North Everton Neighbourhood Council became a charity in 1996 and opened the areas first community centre in January 2000. The centre has continued to grow and is now a complex that includes a sports hall, nursey, and a training annex.

The charity supports a number of groups within the community as well as delivering its own programmes and initiatives that are ‘run by local people, for local people’.

Not all their brilliant work happens at the Breckfield centre. They have five outreach surgeries, four befriending schemes to tackle loneliness and isolation within the community, a Health Awareness programme partnered with Anfield & Everton Primary Care Network and various outreach sessions to make their services accessible over the wider area.

This year BNENC has already helped 3,873 individuals across all of its programmes.

To find out more about BNENC or to access any of their services, please visit https://www.thebreckfieldcentre.com/

Pure Insight’s volunteer mentors for care leavers

Pure Insight, part of the Steve Morgan Foundation family of charities, is looking to expand its cohort of mentors to continue delivering its mentoring service.

About Pure Insight

The charity delivers a comprehensive package of services to support young people leaving the care system (children’s homes and foster care) in the North West. Services include emotional wellbeing and mental health support, mentoring programmes, counselling, young parent support programme, employment support and peer support/group activities. Pure Insight brings together these services under a single ‘front door’ approach to make them as accessible as possible to care leavers who can often struggle when they exit the care system.

As a ‘lived experience’ charity – with 50% of the board having first-hand experience of the care system – they understand the challenges faced by care leavers and the importance of consistent, ongoing support, both practical and emotional.

Under 1% of the population in England go into care as a child, however care leavers are significantly overrepresented in poor outcomes including homelessness, mental health, suicide, poor education, the criminal justice system and early deaths. Children in the North are disproportionately more likely to go into care compared to its southern counterparts.*

The services offered by Pure Insight address the issues that contribute to these statistics and aim to prevent care leavers in their communities from becoming part of those numbers.

Their fortnightly drop-in peer support café in Crewe offers care experienced young people the chance to meet like-minded individuals in a relaxed, informal environment and provides an additional route to access their services.

Volunteer mentoring programme

The volunteer mentoring programme in Cheshire East, funded by the Steve Morgan Foundation, provides early intervention and crisis support to young adults leaving the care system.

The service is a tailored 1:1 offer to a young person, providing regular practical and emotional support for a few hours each week for a minimum of two years, supporting them to flourish and be the best version of themselves. Mentors also form part of Pure Insight’s Parent Support programme, where long-term mentors as well as short-term ‘family angels’ provide wrap around support to new care experienced parents or those that are in crisis to help them cope with the struggles of parenthood.

Young Volunteer of the Year

Earlier this year, the Steve Morgan Foundation was delighted to announce Rebecca Clark (Bex) as the Young Volunteer of the Year at the SMF Awards 2024. Bex is a peer support volunteer at Pure Insight and an inspirational voice for care leavers. Since attending the drop-in cafes herself, she decided she wanted to use her experiences to help others. As well as being an excellent peer support, Bex is part of the Experts by Experience group with Pure Insight where she is involved in the interview, selection and training process of new volunteers. She also shares her experiences and recommendations with services and policy makers to help them understand what care leavers need and why, with the aim of changing the way they receive support in the future.

Bex from Pure Insight receiving Volunteer of the Year award from Steve Morgan

As an SMF award winner, Bex received £10,000 for the charity which is being put to good use by funding group activities, day trips and residentials.

Bex said: “It is important to me to give people within our community the chance to have experiences they may not have had. The prize money from the Steve Morgan Foundation has allowed us to offer family days out that they remember forever.”

How to become a mentor with Pure Insight

If you are kind, non-judgemental and can spare 2-3 hours a week to dedicate to a young person to help improve their life, then Pure Insight would like to hear from you.

Following an initial chat, you will be linked to an appropriate project in your area where you can find out more about mentoring from existing volunteers and decide whether it is the right opportunity for you. Experience of supporting young people would be beneficial, but not essential as full training will be provided and you will be supported by our existing network of volunteers (the Pure Insight Family) who have a range of talents and experiences. You will be required to complete a DBS check and provide two references stating your suitability to work with young people. You will then be carefully matched to a young person from your local community.

The mentoring programme is for a minimum of two years where you will receive ongoing support and supervision for your relationship to flourish with many turning into long term friendships.

Take the first step to becoming a mentor with Pure Insight by emailing info@pure-insight.org.uk.

To find out more about becoming a volunteer, please visit the Pure Insight website here.

The future for Pure Insight

In the coming months, Pure Insight hopes to increase its cohort of volunteers to sustain its services and expand its offering to other areas. They will soon have a presence in Halton and are looking for volunteers in Halton, Warrington, Stockport, and Salford.

Founder and CEO, Sarah Sturmey, comments:

“My future hopes for Pure Insight are to build long term relationships with funders, the way we have with the Steve Morgan Foundation. We feel that working together with shared goals is the way forward to sustain the future of the charity and hopefully the expansion of our nationally recognised model into other areas of the region.

“We’re excited to be launching our services in Halton in the coming months and we would love to replicate this with the support of funders and corporate sponsorship. It is a great way for local businesses for give back to their communities.

“We are also looking for new trustees to support us in diversifying our income streams with corporate and major donors by opening doors, developing relationships and contributing to strategy.”

If you feel you can add value by becoming part of the Pure Insight team, please contact them directly here.

*Source: Professor Kate Pickett OBE, Academic Co-Director at Health Equity North, and Director of the Public Health & Society Research Group.

T1D Grand Challenge to fund 6 new smart insulin projects

The Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge has announced funding of more than £2.7 million through the novel insulins challenge to transform type 1 diabetes treatment. This vital funding will accelerate the development of insulins that more closely mimic how a healthy pancreas works, which could improve the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes.

Developing novel insulins

Today’s announcement grants over £2.7 million to six new international research projects focused on developing next-generation insulins, also known as novel insulins. This crucial research aims to design insulins that act faster and more precisely, relieving some of the burden of managing type 1 diabetes and reducing the risk of long-term complications.

People with type 1 diabetes can’t make their own insulin, so they must give themselves synthetic insulin several times each day to survive. But insulin is far from a cure for type 1 diabetes, and new forms of insulin are urgently needed.

Why do we need new insulins?

Blood glucose levels are affected by many factors including food intake, exercise, stress, other hormones, and even the weather. This complexity means that even with the most advanced technology available, many people with type 1 diabetes fluctuate between high and low glucose levels, resulting in short and long-term physical health issues. The relentless struggle to stabilise blood glucose with existing insulins can also be a significant mental burden for people living with type 1 diabetes.

Glucose-responsive ‘smart’ insulins

Four of these newly funded projects involve scientists creating and testing novel insulin formulations that can respond to changing blood glucose levels, known as glucose responsive insulins (GRIs). The concept of glucose responsive insulins is that the drug only becomes active when there is a certain amount of glucose in the blood to prevent hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose) and becomes inactive again when levels drop below a certain point, avoiding hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose).

Ultrafast acting insulin

Researchers running a fifth research project are developing a new ultrafast, short-acting insulin. Even with the fastest insulins that are currently available, there is still a delay between the drug being administered and the point it starts to act on glucose in the blood. This can result in blood glucose rising to unsafe levels before insulin can act to lower it. Faster insulins are also needed to improve the function of insulin pumps and hybrid closed loop technology, a system that relies on the stored insulin responding in real-time to changing blood glucose levels.

Combining insulin and glucagon

The final research project is focused on designing a protein that combines insulin with another hormone, glucagon. Unlike insulin, which helps remove glucose from the blood, glucagon stimulates the liver to release more glucose when levels in the blood run low. Having both hormones included in one formulation could keep blood glucose levels stable by working to prevent high and low blood glucose levels.

Dr Tim Heise, Vice Chair of the Grand Challenge Novel Insulins Scientific Advisory Panel, said:

“Even with the currently available modern insulins, people living with type 1 diabetes have to put lots of effort into managing their diabetes every day to find a good balance between acceptable glycaemic control on the one hand and avoiding hypoglycaemia on the other. The funded six new research projects address major shortcomings in insulin therapy.

Glucose-responsive (so-called ‘smart’) insulins are regarded as the holy grail of insulin as they would come as close to a cure for type 1 diabetes as any drug therapy could. A truly rapid short-acting insulin might make it finally possible to progress from hybrid to fully closed loop systems, allowing a technological ‘cure’ for insulin-treated people with diabetes. Potentially minimising the risk of hypoglycaemia through an insulin-glucagon combination would ease one of the major concerns associated with insulin therapy today. Therefore, these research projects, if successful might do no less than heralding a new era in insulin therapy.”

Professor Simon Heller, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel, said:

“This unique funding is transforming the ability of global scientists to join forces to tackle type 1 diabetes. It enables researchers to set up new collaborations and to test innovative ideas which may lead to a step change in finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.”

Rachel Connor, Director of Research Partnerships at JDRF UK, said:

“With this funding programme we have challenged scientists around the world to drive forward new ideas in insulin design to combat the relentless burden of managing type 1 diabetes.

While insulin has been saving lives for over a hundred years now, and previous research has driven important changes for people with type 1, it is still not good enough – managing glucose levels with insulin is really tough, and it’s time for science to find ways to lift that burden.

By imagining a world where insulins can respond to changing glucose levels in real-time, we hope these six projects will help to create that new reality, relieving people with type 1 of the relentless demands that living with this condition places on them today.”

Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, said:

“This much needed funding boost has the potential to revolutionise type 1 diabetes treatment. By supporting these groundbreaking research projects, we are aiming to develop new insulins that more closely mimic the body’s natural responses to changing blood sugar levels. This could significantly reduce the daily challenges of managing type 1 diabetes, and improve both the physical and mental health of those living with the condition. We are hopeful that this research will lead to life-changing advancements in type 1 diabetes care.”

The exciting development has had widespread media coverage across the BBC, Sky News, and in the national press. Listen to the clip on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme here, at 49 minutes, or watch a clip from BBC News below:

Commenting on the news, Steve and Sally Morgan said:

‘Our aim with the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge is to bring together the best scientists and provide them with the financial support to help accelerate the development of new treatments and, ultimately, a cure for type 1 diabetes. We are excited about the potential of these six new research projects and look forward to following their development as they work towards making life easier for people living with type 1.’

About the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge

More than 400,000 people in the UK have type 1 diabetes and this number is rising year on year, yet medical research remains consistently and woefully underfunded. Insulin, 100 years after its discovery, remains the only available treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Recognising the desperate need to improve the lives of people living with this relentless condition, the Steve Morgan Foundation brought together the two major UK diabetes charities to super-charge the research towards a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Working in partnership with Diabetes UK and JDRF UK, in 2022 the Foundation invested an unprecedented £50 million into the ‘Grand Challenge’, a five-year programme to accelerate medical research into type 1 diabetes.

Work on new North Wales Maggie’s Centre to start

Maggie’s, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Steve Morgan Foundation are delighted to announce work is starting on the construction of cancer support centre Maggie’s in North Wales.

The new centre has been designed, commissioned and funded by the Steve Morgan Foundation and is planned to open in 2025.

Located in the grounds of Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, the centre’s expert staff will support people living with cancer, as well as family and friends, from across the whole region – including Bangor and Wrexham.

The North Wales NHS Cancer Centre at Ysbyty Glan Clywd sees approximately 5,000 people newly diagnosed with cancer every year.

Dame Laura Lee, Chief Executive at Maggie’s said:

“We are delighted to be starting work on our centre in North Wales.

“Without the Steve Morgan Foundation’s incredibly generous support we wouldn’t have been able to bring Maggie’s to North Wales and for that I am so grateful.

“I am greatly looking forward to working closely with the Steve Morgan Foundation and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, to ensure the people of North Wales have the support which has already been making such a difference to people’s lives in other parts of Wales for 13 years.”

The Steve Morgan Foundation has provided £4m to design, commission and build the centre in North Wales. This is the second Maggie’s Centre we have supported, following the success of our earlier project to design, commission and build Maggie’s Wirral.

Liam Eaglestone, CEO of the Steve Morgan Foundation, said:

“We are delighted to be helping Maggie’s bring its vital cancer support to the people of North Wales, ensuring they will have the warm, welcoming and free expert support of a Maggie’s centre right on their doorstep.”

Glan Clwyd Hospital is within the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) and is home to the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre.

Carol Shillabeer, the Health Board’s CEO, said:

“I am delighted work is starting on Maggie’s centre in North Wales.

“Working closely with the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre, also based at Glan Clwyd Hospital, this new facility will extend and enhance the support we offer to people with cancer and their families.

“I also want to give particular thanks to the Steve Morgan Foundation for its generous funding of what I am sure will be a highly valued facility.”

Keep an eye on our social channels where we’ll share the progress of the new Maggie’s Centre in the coming months.

Local community hero scoops Steve Morgan Foundation award

LFC Foundation – strategic partner of the Steve Morgan Foundation – recognised local community champion, Jeanette Phillips, at its 2024 Community Awards at Anfield for her outstanding dedication to local people.

Jeanette, who works at Northwood Community Centre in Kirkby, was presented with the Steve Morgan Foundation Award at LFC Foundation’s 2024 Community Awards, which celebrates and honours the incredible people, organisations, and charities whose efforts have made a significant impact in the community during the past season.

The award, which celebrates the partnership between LFC Foundation and SMF, recognised Jeanette’s commitment to maximising the partnership over the past five years to give back to the community, all whilst embodying the club’s values of Dignity, Unity, Commitment, Ambition, and Equality.

Our strategic partnership with LFC Foundation identifies communities across the Liverpool City Region that require support and, through consultation with local community members, LFC Foundation’s delivery team delivers a range of programmes and opportunities through its community hubs network to local young people.

LFC Foundation’s Community Hubs based in Toxteth, Birkenhead, Bootle, Kirkby and Anfield are thriving as a result of the support from the Steve Morgan Foundation and strengthened by the dedication of key staff such as Jeanette.

On receiving her award Jeanette said:

“This really means the world to me, I’ve never won anything. I was that happy I burst into tears, I would like to say thank you again for everything. The award ceremony was amazing from start to finish”.

Gemma Smith, Head of Programmes at LFC Foundation, said:

“From the moment Jeanette joined, she has poured her heart and soul into our organisation. Every week, without fail, Jeanette offers her warmth and support to everyone who walks through our doors. Whether she’s cooking lunches, calling out bingo numbers, or simply lending an attentive ear, Jeanette has a remarkable talent for making each and every person feel valued and welcome. Her honesty, reliability, and unwavering loyalty are matched only by her boundless compassion and infectious enthusiasm.

“Despite facing her own health challenges, Jeanette remains a steadfast presence in our community. She never hesitates to show up, always with a smile on her face and a willingness to lend a helping hand. Her resilience and positivity inspire us all.”

Liam Eaglestone, CEO of the Steve Morgan Foundation added:

“We are delighted to be able to recognise Jeanette and her incredible work with this award. Her passion and commitment have had such a positive impact on the local community, and we are lucky to have her as part of the partnership delivery team.”

LFC TV’s Peter McDowell hosted this year’s LFC Foundation Community Awards, alongside Liverpool Legends Steve McManaman, David Fairclough and Chris Kirkland who presented the awards.

“Underfunded and overlooked” – the challenges for grassroots charities

We share a recent report from the Centre for Social Justice Foundation, underlining the funding and power imbalance facing small and medium-sized charities, together with some important recommendations for change.

As a charitable foundation that works with hundreds of poverty-fighting grassroots charities we are acutely aware of the pressures and challenges that many of them face. The need for their support is rising, while funding opportunities are disappearing.

The report highlights the widening post-pandemic funding gap between small and large charities, with income for the small charity sector declining by £4.6 billion, compared with an overall £4.5 billion rise for larger charitable organisations. And these smaller charities are increasingly being forced to close – the CSJ Foundation’s report notes that of the 921 charities that have closed so far in 2024, almost all of these (904) have an annual income of less than £1 million.

Read Underfunded and Overlooked, the report from the CSJ Foundation in full here.

A focus on philanthropy

The report also highlights the opportunity to improve the mechanism for philanthropic investments and private donations, stating:

“Much can be done to improve the way philanthropic investments and private donations work, for both donors and charities. Philanthropists and people seeking to donate, are often unaware of the most effective grassroots organisations (sometimes right on their doorstep) and so are not in a position to invest in high-impact grassroots poverty-fighting organisations.”

The report recommends making it easier for potential donors to access the very best small charities and organisations.

Finding those excellent small charities is a real challenge for philanthropists, as we are acutely aware at the Steve Morgan Foundation, as they rarely have the time nor resources for self-promotion. We raise awareness by attending funding events and using social media (and articles such as this) to ensure we can attract funding applications from the widest possible cohort in our regions, but there is always so much more to be done.

Recommendations for addressing the imbalance in the charity sector

The report sets out four key recommendations, which we summarise here:

#1 Local and national government should give due consideration to small and medium-sized charities when making contracting decisions for the provision of social services.

#2 The Government should ringfence a proportion of its charitable grant-making for grassroots charitable organisations.

#3 To stimulate hilanthropic giving , the Government should commit to match funding charitable initiatives. A model for this could be the DCMS Community Match Fund initiative, rolled out during the pandemic. We were involved in this scheme, distributing a total of £20 million to organisations at the forefront of essential service delivery to the most severely impacted communities.

#4 The Government should give an equal voice to smaller charities when it engages with the sector for research and policy making.

Supporting grassroots charities

We know that local, grassroots charities are often the ones best placed to support the most vulnerable in our communities. It is time for policymakers, philanthropists and the charity sector to come together and ensure we can protect these excellent local organisations.

The Steve Morgan Foundation provides a range of grants for organisations that make a positive difference to those in need. Areas of support include poverty, homelessness, health and wellbeing, education and training. We also provide smaller grants to people requiring specialised disability equipment. Find out more about our grants and how to apply.

About the CSJ Foundation

The CSJ Foundation was established by the Centre for Social Justice, an independent think-tank that studies the root causes of Britain’s social problems and addresses them by recommending practical, workable policy interventions.

Sitting in a unique position between frontline charities, philanthropists, and policymakers, the CSJ Foundation describes its mission as being to ‘put social justice at the heart of British philanthropy’ and to ‘revolutionise the way local grass roots charities are seen and funded’.

Visit the Centre for Social Justice here.

Steve Morgan honoured for philanthropy

The Foundation’s Chairman, Steve Morgan CBE, has been honoured for his outstanding contributions to North Wales communities alongside Wrexham’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The three have each received Community Foundation Wales Philanthropy Awards.

The awards recognise and highlight the work of individuals going above and beyond for their local communities and aims to inspire and encourage others to start their philanthropic journey.

The awards were made to mark the charity’s 25^th year.

The Steve Morgan Foundation supports the most vulnerable across North Wales, Cheshire and Merseyside helping to make a positive difference to those in need. We have worked alongside Community Foundation Wales, supporting their Our Communities Together – a cost of living crisis appeal with £25,000 of match funding.

Steve Morgan said: “What a great honour to receive this award from Community Foundation Wales. It’s a special award that is unexpected. Our foundation does tremendous work in north Wales and has done for many, many years, distributing millions of pounds in just the last few years alone. This is all done without looking to be recognised, so when you get something like this, it really means something.”

Upon receiving his award, Steve recorded this video:

Since becoming Co-Chairmen of Wrexham Football Club, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have supported a number of community projects in local area. When they took over the club in 2020, they pledged to make a positive difference to the local community as well as the football club.

From donating to a charity who provide free caravan holidays to families who may never have had a holiday before due to financial crisis to funding an adapted bathroom for a Wrexham Football Club fan, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney continue to support and give back to the Wrexham area.

Richard Williams, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Wales said:

“We are delighted to recognise Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Steve Morgan for their amazing generosity and commitment to communities in North Wales. They, like us, recognise the wider role of philanthropy in building and strengthening Welsh communities.

These philanthropy awards are part of our 25th birthday celebrations which also sees the relaunch of our Fund for Wales, which provides grants to local, grassroots organisations and charities who are embedded in their local communities.

We hope that people will be inspired by Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Steve Morgan to give back to their local communities and a donation to Fund for Wales would be a great way to start.”

Since 1999, Community Foundation Wales have awarded over £40m in grants across Wales, playing a key role in matching philanthropy to grassroots community groups and charities making a difference in their local communities.

Their Fund for Wales supports small, volunteer-driven community organisations with grants of between £500 – £2,000 towards the following areas:

Improving people’s chances in life
Building stronger communities
Improving rural and urban environments
Encouraging healthier and more active people and communities
Preserving heritage and culture

Time for Bed – a step forwards for End Furniture Poverty

End Furniture Poverty – winner of the Best Large Charity award at the SMF Awards 2024 – launched its Time for Bed campaign in 2023 with funding support from the Steve Morgan Foundation and has already helped 124 children to move away from furniture poverty.

Furniture poverty is a ‘hidden’ poverty – it’s behind closed doors and can often go unnoticed. We naturally assume that people who have a place to live also have everything within it to make it a home and be comfortable. Sadly, this is not the case for thousands of children across Merseyside alone, as highlighted by research commissioned by End Furniture Poverty which found that at least 18,000 children do not have a bed of their own. Furniture poverty often comes to light through conversations that happen within schools, which prompted End Furniture Poverty to launch its Time for Bed appeal.

The Time for Bed campaign works on a referral basis from partner schools. The campaign launched with 15 partner schools across Merseyside and now works with 34. In the last 11 months, Time for Bed has received 65 referrals and provided beds for 127 children.

The Time for Bed campaign

The Steve Morgan Foundation awarded funding to End Furniture Poverty in early 2023 to cover the salary for a dedicated fundraising manager for three years to launch and deliver the Time for Bed campaign. Launched in May 2023, Time for Bed provides free bed bundles to children impacted by furniture poverty across the whole of Merseyside to ensure they have a comfortable place to sleep.

Bed bundles include a bed base, headboard, duvet, pillow and two sets of bedding. The bundles are flexible and could be for single beds, bunk beds, cots & cotbeds, depending on the needs of the beneficiaries. Recognising that not one size fits all, bespoke items can also be provided under the scheme, such as mattress only and waterproof bedding.

Time for Bed is open to pupils or siblings of pupils of one of the Time for Bed partner schools, aged between 0-18 years.

How the Time for Bed campaign works

The aim is to make the process as quick, straightforward and stress-free as possible.

Schools within the remit area that have identified a family where there are children without a bed complete a straightforward online form on the dedicated Time for Bed website where they can register to become a partner of the campaign.

Once they become a partner, they can then make referrals for families in need.

Upon receiving a referral, the families will be contacted and will receive their bed bundle within one week. They will also get a support pack which provides details of additional support services and how to access those should they need it.

Referrals can only be made through a partner school, so in instances where a potential beneficiary has been identified by a family’s social worker, care worker or other support team, End Furniture Poverty will help to identify a partner school who can make the referral. This joined up approach is allowing more people to access and benefit from the appeal.

Hopes for the future

The £10,000 received as a result of winning Best Large Charity at the SMF Awards will be spent solely on the Time for Bed campaign and will fund an additional 57 bed bundles to help reach more children.

The longer-term goal is to continue to raise the profile of the Time for Bed appeal and grow organically, getting more schools and businesses on board so that they can expand and sustain the service beyond the funding period and benefit more children.

The hope is to produce a sustainable model that could be rolled out nationally.

“The support we’ve had from the Steve Morgan Foundation – funding my post and helping us to set up and deliver the Time for Bed campaign – has been fantastic. But to win the award and get that recognition is really humbling and also helps to put us in the spotlight. Although End Furniture Poverty is part of a larger group of charities,the Time for Bed campaign is small and new and needs that springboard to get it into the public eye. We are really appreciative of the Steve Morgan Foundation and everything they have done for us so far.” Julie Lavigne, EFP Fundraising Manager.

About End Furniture Poverty

End Furniture Poverty is the campaigning and social research arm of FRC Group, a group of not-for-profit charities providing furniture to people living in furniture poverty for more than 30 years. Created nine years ago to raise awareness of furniture poverty, it works with partners to develop scaled solutions, including supporting social landlords to create furniture schemes for tenants.

TAD 2024 – sharing stories of inspiration

Talking About Diabetes – aka TAD – 2024 took place at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre on Friday 25 May, bringing together the Type 1 diabetes community for a day of peer support and inspirational stories.

The Steve Morgan Foundation’s CEO, Liam Eaglestone, and his son Jack were invited to give a talk to delegates on their journey of living with Type 1 – and how they use technology to make things easier.

Jack and Liam were diagnosed with Type 1 around a decade ago, just 12 months apart, and they have been successfully using an Opensource Hybrid Closed Loop system for six years.

Also known as an artificial pancreas, a hybrid closed loop system enables the glucose monitor and insulin pump to communicate with each other, and automatically adjust the delivery of insulin in response to changing glucose levels.

Liam and Jack gave insights into why and how they built their opensource system and lessons learned along the way.

“Living with a chronic condition, the lack of sleep and inevitable burnout is hard, and developing the system was not easy but it is ‘doable’ and the benefits can be significant.”

They also acknowledged all the amazing pioneers in the #OpenAPS & #WeAreNotWaiting communities. Liam and Jack’s talk then led into the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, with a video message from Steve and Sally Morgan.

“Technology is great – but it is not a cure”, added Liam. “The Grand Challenge is seeking that cure, by bringing together some of the best and brightest brains in the type 1 research community.”

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start lazyload"></span>What is Talking About Diabetes (TAD)?

Talking About Diabetes (TAD) brings together individuals who have inspirational stories to share in the context of living with diabetes. The goal is to inspire us to think differently about diabetes, removing barriers and harnessing innovation and new technologies.

The TAD talk concept was brought to life in 2016 by three doctors specialising in diabetes – Catherine Peters, Petr Hindmarsh and Partha Kar, Type 1 Diabetes and Technology Lead for NHS England. They wanted to support and empower those with diabetes to achieve their potential and live well.

“Talking About Diabetes aka TAD was always simply an idea to bring the community of Type 1 Diabetes together- a chance for people to mingle, talk to each other- built on my own one simple philosophy- you cannot change the paradigm of care without the power of the community.” Partha S Kar

Photo credits: Marc Lungley

EitC and SMF partnership wins Best CSR Scheme at Football Business Awards

Everton in the Community and the Steve Morgan Foundation are delighted to announce that their collaborative initiative, the ‘Steve Morgan Community Impact Model’ has been recognised as the ‘Best Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme’ at this year’s prestigious Football Business Awards.

EitC has been working with the Steve Morgan Foundation since 2020, delivering the Impact Model in Speke-Garston to protect young people from exploitation and inspire them to reach their full potential, and it is thanks to the success of the charity’s delivery in South Liverpool as to why the early intervention programmes were also rolled out across Liverpool 4 and South Sefton last July.

The Club’s official charity and the Steve Morgan Foundation fought off strong competition to win the Best CSR Scheme, which is open to clubs and organisations involved in football who can demonstrate the positive impact their CSR activities have had on local communities and key stakeholders. The judges remarked the Impact Model as “a vibrant, impressive and far-reaching community scheme” and that they “were amazed at the scale of what EitC and the Steve Morgan Foundation does.”

£35.6 million of total social value

Reflecting on its impact, EitC’s delivery of the Impact Model in Speke-Garston alone has generated a remarkable £35.6million of total social value in the last three years from March 2020 to December 2023. Additionally, the charity has contributed to wider school changes within the area including improved Ofsted ratings in two of the three high schools it works in, where 40% of young people aged 16+ have no qualifications.

What’s more, EitC’s impact in Speke-Garston subsequently enabled the charity to secure additional multi-million-pound funding from the Steve Morgan Foundation to extend the Impact Model across L4 and South Sefton almost a year ago, with EitC having made a tangible difference to the lives of more than 27,000 young people in the four deprived areas across Liverpool City Region to date.

Sue Gregory, CEO at EitC said:

“It’s a huge honour to win the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme with our long-term partner, the Steve Morgan Foundation at this year’s Football Business Awards. It’s an accolade that is testament to the value of the Impact Model and recognises the beneficial impact it has had and continues to have on the lives of so many young people in the most deprived communities across the city. We look forward to seeing what the strategic partnership will achieve a year from now.”

Liam Eaglestone, CEO at Steve Morgan Foundation added:

“Originally inspired by Steve Morgan’s desire to give back to the community where he was born, we are delighted that the Steve Morgan Foundation Community Impact Model has already changed the trajectories of so many young people and we are thrilled on behalf of the entire EitC team to see it rewarded with this accolade. Our partnership sets a real gold standard for what can be achieved with a committed and passionate delivery team backed up by long-term and secure funding.”

EitC also scooped up silver for the ‘Best Football Community Scheme’ during the awards ceremony, reaffirming its place as one of the UK’s Premier League community schemes due to the quality and reach of its life-changing work, with the charity having supported tens of thousands of individuals through its delivery in the past year and expanded its provision to more than 60 programmes.

Elsewhere, significant highlights in the last 12 months include the official opening of the charity’s mental health and wellbeing hub, The People’s Place, which completed a £13 million Goodison Campus and the regeneration of a key part of Liverpool 4. EitC also unveiled Trinity Project, an ambitious five-year strategic plan which set out its bold vision to create stronger communities and brighter futures across the city.

Launched in 2012, the Football Business Awards celebrate the elite in football business at The Brewery in London each year. The judging panel is made up of Chief Executives of football clubs, Professional Football Associations and Grassroots Football Organisations. Designed to recognise the organisations, teams and individuals who excel in a variety of business, CSR and football governance disciplines – with 25 award categories from ‘CEO of the Year – Premier League’ right through to ‘Commemorative Team Award’.

Steve Morgan Community Impact Model generates £35.6million for Speke-Garston

We are delighted to announce that the ‘Steve Morgan Community Impact Model’, delivered by our strategic partner, Everton in the Community, in Speke-Garston, has generated £35.6million of total social value since it first launched in March 2020.

Made possible by the multi-million-pound funding received from the Steve Morgan Foundation, Everton Football Club’s official charity delivers early intervention programmes in Speke-Garston to protect young people from exploitation and inspire them to reach their full potential, and it is thanks to EitC’s significant work in South Liverpool as to why the Impact Model was additionally rolled out across Liverpool 4 and South Sefton last July.

Reflecting on the success of the charity’s delivery in Speke-Garston alone, an independent report by socio-economic specialists, RealWorth found that for every £1 spent to deliver the Impact Model, £17.78 of social value was created for society*. As a result, EitC has generated a remarkable £35.6million of total social value in the last three years from March 2020 to December 2023.

Elsewhere, the report shows that the Impact Model has reduced anti-social behaviour and vulnerability to gangs, improved physical and mental wellbeing and boosted self-confidence amongst the young people in Speke-Garston, elevated academic achievements and developments in work and life skills were associated with over half of the total social value.

What’s more, one of the key findings specifically highlighted how the reading ages amongst local secondary school pupils increased by an average of eight to 16 months within just 12 weeks of the Impact Model’s delivery. These findings were supported by the fact that the charity also contributed to wider school changes in Speke-Garston, including improved Ofsted ratings in two of the three high schools it works in, in an area where 40% of young people aged 16+ have no qualifications.

EitC delivering the Steve Morgan Community Impact Model

Meanwhile, despite both young people and children being listed as the two main beneficiaries of the Impact Model, the report also reflected the wrap-around support for families connected to the Impact Model as well, with them benefitting from £2million of the total social value in this analysis.

To date, more than 17,000 individuals across Speke-Garston have been supported resulting in significant improvements in mental wellbeing, developments in skills and knowledge, and increases in attendance and engagement in school. And from March 2023 to March 2024, EitC has delivered targeted interventions to over 5,000 young people in 11 schools and multiple community venues.

Sue Gregory, CEO at EitC said:

“We’ve been working with the Steve Morgan Foundation since 2020 delivering their Impact Model, and the results that we’ve seen in Speke-Garston during that time is astounding. The findings from the RealWorth report speak for themselves; to have generated over £35million in total social value in just three years shows the significant value the Impact Model has had on the lives of so many young people across South Liverpool. We look forward to continuing this work with the Steve Morgan Foundation and seeing what the next three years brings.”

Liam Eaglestone, CEO at Steve Morgan Foundation added:

“Originally inspired by Steve Morgan’s desire to give back to the community where he was born, we are delighted that the Impact Model has already changed the trajectories of so many young people living in our region. Our partnership with Everton in the Community highlights the Foundation’s approach to providing long-term secure funding, underpinned by very practical support and expertise and, we too, are excited to see the impact it has over the coming years.”

*Societal value is the calculation of benefits created by an organisation as part of their everyday output. The figures are based on an accepted national formula and not only take into account the value for money created by Everton in the Community and Steve Morgan Foundation, but also the wider benefit to society through the direct impact on people’s lives, the economy and the environment.

A day to inspire, resource and celebrate

The Steve Morgan Foundation 2024 Conference & Awards was held on Monday 22^nd April at Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire, where we awarded more than £100,000 to local charities. The event brought together more than 160 people from within the Foundation’s family of charities in a day to inspire, resource and celebrate.

With inspirational keynote speeches, a live interview with Steve Morgan and a series of collaborative workshops, the day culminated with the prestigious awards to celebrate the incredible work of the organisations and people supported by The Steve Morgan Foundation, recognising the valuable contribution they make towards changing lives for good.

Hosted by award-winning journalist, Chris Maguire, the day got underway with a conference designed to offer support, advice and share best practice through a series of workshops covering a range of topics from planning for organisational growth to rediscovering the value of community. The workshops were interspersed with speeches from inspiring guest speakers including Matt Parish, CEO of Liverpool FC Foundation, Andy Cook, Chief Executive of Centre of Social Justice and professional yachtsman and three times World Record holder, Jack Trigger.

Q&A with Steve Morgan on stage at SMF conference and awards 2024

Liam Eaglestone, CEO of The Steve Morgan Foundation, said:

“The Steve Morgan Foundation 2024 Conference and Awards not only honours and celebrates the fantastic achievements of the organisations and people within our family of charities, but also provides an opportunity to recognise and share some wonderful best practice in our region as well as learn from and inspire one another. This year we are continuing that learning with follow-on communities, kindly hosted by the leaders of our Associate Partners, promoting peer-led discussion and reflection to support each other in the work we are doing.”

The day ended on a celebratory note with the Awards presentations. This year, prize money was awarded for outstanding service delivery and commitment across eight award categories. The winning charity of each award received £10,000 with a further £2,000 awarded to the remaining two category finalists. The winner of a discretionary award, chosen by Steve himself, was also unveiled during the awards presentations.

Commenting on the award entries, our Founder and Chairman, Steve Morgan, said:

“It was fantastic to read about all the amazing work that is being done for our communities within our family of charities and every entry we received was worthy of recognition. The standard of entries to this year’s awards has been extremely high and it was certainly no easy task to select the finalists and winners from over a hundred entries.”

Unlike other awards, the ethos behind our event is to bring charities together to foster collaboration rather than competition and to recognise and celebrate all of their incredible achievements in making a positive difference to people’s lives.

Having undergone intense scrutiny by the judging panel consisting of the Trustees of the Foundation, Steve and Sally Morgan, Vincent Fairclough, Rhiannon Walker OBE, Ashley Lewis, Jane Harris and Brian Clark, all of whom have first-hand knowledge of the charities having worked closely with them, three finalists were agreed on for each of the categories.

The winners of the Steve Morgan Foundation 2024 Awards

Charity Leader of the Year was awarded to Kathy Wright who is Centre Head at Maggie’s Wirral. Maggie’s delivers support, help and advice for families who are affected by cancer. The centre offers a warm, safe environment for people to talk, connect and seek refuge. Kathy is a true ambassador for Maggie’s, embodying their values with kindness, with integrity, with each other and with courage in every aspect of her work. Her extraordinary leadership, compassionate nature, and exceptional commitment to Maggie’s Wirral have undoubtedly maximised the impact Maggie’s Wirral has been able to make in recent years. Kathy leads by example, never more apparent than when she took part in last year’s triathlon.

Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Ben Meadows of Cerebral Palsy United Football Club. Ben began to volunteer at the age of fourteen in the Club’s ‘Our Futures’ program, remaining behind after his own training session, to work with and support the sessions of his younger club mates. He is now 23 and is a lead coach at the Liverpool centre. Over the last 18 months Ben has gone above and beyond his coaching duties and has become a mentor to ten student physiotherapists from LJM university.

Young Volunteer of the Year was scooped up by Rebecca Clark of Pure Insight. Rebecca is a member of the Experts by Experience group and has helped to design and deliver ‘through our eyes’ training to new volunteers, team members and other professionals and decision makers supporting care leavers. Rebecca also regularly sits on interview panels helping to recruit the right team and volunteers.

Collecting Best Small/Medium Charity or Social Enterprise (t/o less than £1m) was Breckfield & North Everton Neighbourhood Council. Breckfield and North Everton Neighbouring Council has a small team of dedicated staff and community volunteers and provides its residents in Everton and Anfield with information, advice, support, training, community events and access to resources.

Best Large Charity or Social Enterprise (t/o more than £1m) went to End Furniture Poverty. End Furniture Poverty was created nine years ago to raise awareness of furniture poverty and to work with partners to develop scaled solutions. End Furniture Poverty supports social landlords to create furniture schemes for tenants and with the support of the Steve Morgan Foundation recently launched Time for Bed, a fundraising appeal giving away free beds to children across Merseyside.

Scooping the Disruptor for Good award was Everton in the Community. Everton in the Community (EitC) is the charitable arm of Everton Football Club and is one of the UK’s top sporting charities. EitC is considered to be one of the Premier League’s leading community schemes due to the quality and reach of its programmes which seek to transform lives and create positive change.

Partnership of the Year award was picked up by Right to Succeed. Right to Succeed supports communities in areas of high deprivation, aiming to give children and young people the best start in life by bringing together residents, professionals and decision-makers to co-design long-term, sustainable programmes that are bespoke to the needs of the local community. They received this award for the delivery of the Cradle to Career programme in partnership with over 100 organisations.

And finally, taking the accolade of the discretionary Outstanding Contribution award was the Foundation’s own Jane Harris. Jane has been the driving force behind the Foundation for a number of years and is now a Trustee. Steve Morgan personally selected Jane as the winner due to her unwavering commitment, not only to the Steve Morgan Foundation, but also to the charities and organisations we support.

Steve added:

“This award was created to recognise the individual that I felt had gone the extra mile in the contribution they make towards their charity. It was a difficult decision as there were several worthy winners, but I was delighted to present the award to Jane, who has been instrumental to the development of the Steve Morgan Foundation over the last 17 years. As well as her outstanding contribution while working for the Foundation, Jane remains passionately involved as a Trustee in supporting our charities and helping us deliver philanthropy at its best.”

View the full list of finalists here.