THE Oxford Mail is giving local charities the chance to take a share of a huge £128,000 cash giveaway.

Our parent company’s charitable arm, The Gannett Foundation, is providing £128,000 in cash, to support local charities across the country and the Oxford Mail is delighted to have a £16,000 share to give away in our area.

Following an extensive nomination process by readers, ten charities from across the region have been selected for the grant scheme, with three based in Oxfordshire.

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Oxsrad, Assisted Reading for Children (ARCH) and The Gatehouse now all the chance to get a cut of the £16,000 in funding.

Oxsrad is the only sport and recreation centre for disabled users in the region and is in danger of closing due to a lack of council funding.

As a result of the Covid and refugee crises, Assisted Reading for Children says there is a vastly increased need for reading support.

While The Gatehouse supports the needs of the homeless community around the city with food, showers and personal support. It also provides a safe space for people to come and chat with peers.

Now we want you, our readers, to decide where this money should be allocated.  

The power to allocate where this cash goes is in your hands. For four weeks, readers will be invited to collect tokens from our newspapers which can then be sent to collection points across our region or posted.

Each token collected will then be used to allocate cash to the nominated charity – so if your favourite charity collects 50 per cent of all to tokens collected, it will receive 50 per cent of the £16,000.

Regional editor Andrew Colley said: “We know the last year has been tough for people right across our community and now is time to give back.

“Every day we get to hear of the amazing work Oxfordshire charities do for people in all walks of life. By nominating and then casting your votes over the next couple of weeks, you can help make a real difference.

“This is a great initiative and one I’d encourage you to get behind. If you know a local charity that you think is deserving, then please let us know.”

In 2021, two Oxfordshire charities received vital funds from the giveaway.

Funds were divided between SeeSaw, who received £4,305.12, and Asylum Welcome, which received £1,212.12.

Speaking last year, Asylum Welcome director Mark Goldring said: “We appreciate the generosity of the donors and the Mail’s readers.

“The grant will help us support the newly arrived Afghan families staying in Oxfordshire over the holiday period, make sure the children have outings and presents, and help everyone to continue to learn English and prepare for life and work in the UK.”

Terms and conditions:

NEWSQUEST terms and conditions will apply where relevant to the grants process; please visit newsquest.co.uk/prizecompetition-rules. Personal data will be used by Newsquest and its agents solely for the administration of the grants process and will not be shared with any third party; our general privacy notice is at: http://www. newsquest.co.uk/privacy-policy. This campaign will be published in multiple Newsquest publications across this Newsquest region. The 10 charities chosen by the local editorial panel will be voted for by our readers. The value of the grant awarded to each of the 10 charities will be calculated pro rata according to their share of the vote. Only original voting coupons will be accepted, no photocopies. The cash grants will be sent by BACS transfer. Grants are conditional on completion of the relevant project and a successful nominee charity may be required to evidence its use of the grant. The top 10 charities selected for the vote will be contacted to provide additional information for entry into the readers’ vote; should this information not be provided within the timescale provided then the editorial panel will select an alternative charity. The charity must be registered with the Charities Commission and have not received a grant from the Gannett Foundation in the last two years.

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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