South Yorkshire charities get funding lifeline from William Cook

The engineering group has established a charitable endowment fund through SYCF for long-term grant making across South Yorkshire with the priorities of providing help to homeless projects and disadvantaged children.

The fund’s annual report for the year ending March 2019 lists the beneficiaries and details how its donations are making a big difference to good causes. 

Ben’s Centre for Vulnerable People (pictured above) runs a drop-in facility behind Sheffield Cathedral that specialises in substance misuse and homelessness. The registered charity is having to cope with a huge rise in the number of people using the synthetic ‘zombie’ drug Spice.

It is using William Cook’s donation to employ a member of staff to set up a holding area for the safe management of Spice users until they stabilise, reducing risk inside the centre. Sheffield Street Pastors, another beneficiary, provides care and support for people on the streets of Sheffield during the night time economy. It has a team of trained volunteers who look out for people who are vulnerable, usually as a result of alcohol consumption, and offer care and protection.

With William Cook’s support, the charity is buying useful items for its rounds such as flip-flops, blankets and bottles of water.

Shiloh Rotherham also received support from the company. It provides a non-residential service for adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. It offers guests hot meals, showers, laundry facilities, new clothes and haircuts as well as training and education, counselling and medical check-ups, all free of charge. The charity used William Cook’s donation to fund the salary of a caretaker to maintain its premises to a high standard for guests.

Doncaster Housing for Young People helps those aged 16-25 who are at risk of becoming destitute to find a home and rebuild their lives. Around half of those it helps have mental health issues, often due to childhood trauma such as family breakdown.

With William Cook’s support, the charity is providing counselling, physical and mental health activities and volunteering opportunities to improve wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem among young people.

Sir Andrew Cook, chairman of William Cook, said: “Whenever I see a beggar, a drug addict, an unhappy child, a down-and-out, I think to myself 'There but for the Grace of God go I’. The world is a cruel place. Charity begins at home. It is to the great credit of the SYCF that it provides a mechanism for the fortunate to fulfil their moral duty help the unfortunate in the local community. I am pleased, and humbled, that the SYCF has enabled my Company to play its part in doing this.”

James Newman, chairman of South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation, said: “William Cook’s generosity is a powerful example of the difference businesses giving locally can make and is a testament to William Cook’s passion for providing opportunity to young people in South Yorkshire.

“We have been working with philanthropists who have been giving back to their communities for over 30 years and we pride ourselves on giving them the best and most efficient service and advice, which allows them to make a real impact on local communities.”

South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation provides a personal philanthropy service to individuals, families, businesses, charitable trusts and the public sector who wish to invest in and support local communities in South Yorkshire. The charity works with donors to match their passions and values with projects and initiatives that meet local needs.

The company established charitable endowment in 2015 with the aim of tackling homelessness and child deprivation in South Yorkshire. It has supported 58 projects to date.