Archive - Featured Grants
2007
Dumfries House
Grant awarded: £4,500
The Pilgrim Trust tries to use its funds imaginatively and to take the occasional risk with the hope that projects will succeed if a small amount of cash is injected at an early stage. Dumfries House is exceptional not only for its architecture and parkland but also for its furniture, which is widely accepted as the best collection of Scottish furniture in the world and the most complete collection of Thomas Chippendale furniture in Scotland. The Pilgrim Trust was approached when it became clear that the house and its contents were to be sold and we were asked to provide a small grant to 'SAVE Britain's Heritage' for a feasibility study to demonstrate that a rescue package was viable. The Trustees were, therefore, thrilled that Dumfries House in Ayrshire was secured for the nation through quick action and great generosity from, among others, the Art Fund, HRH the Prince of Wales, the Monument Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation. It is hoped that the rescue of the house will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the Cumnock area with its current high levels of unemployment and areas of deprivation.
University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge
Grant awarded: £50,000
With over one million specimens, the collections of the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge have been designated by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council as being of national and international importance. The collections have been acquired since the early 19th century and include specimens that contribute to the work of scientists in many fields. The Museum exists to preserve, document and add to these collections for the education of University students, to provide a resource for researchers and for the benefit of schools and the wider public.
The collections are of increasing importance as part of a global resource of biodiversity information. Since 1998, the Museum has made a priority of putting all catalogue information online, enabling researchers around the world to search and retrieve data about the collections. Over 35,000 records of birds, molluscs and fossil vertebrates have been available online since 2002. The Pilgrim Trust grant was given to enable the continuing digitisation of the collection.
The Core Trust
Grant awarded: £50,000
Children whose parents misuse drugs or alcohol are more likely to do so themselves. Support for such children is crucial if the next generation is to be prevented from following the same path as their parents. The Core Trust is a small London-based charity that offers a holistic approach to problematic alcohol and drug use by using a blend of traditional and complementary therapies. Treatments provided include individual and group psychotherapy, crisis management, yoga, nutrition and meditation. The CoreKids project is well known for its innovative work with children, young people and families affected by drug use. CoreKids uses a number of therapies, including nutritional support, sand box, play and family therapies. It is hoped that through the Trust's interventions these children will be prevented from mis-using drugs or alcohol themselves, but also that the improvement in their well-being will increase the chances of their parents recovering. In assessing the application the Pilgrim Trust staff found that the Core Trust demonstrated an ethos of caring and providing the best service possible and that a major benefit of its non-traditional approach is that it questions every aspect of what it does and, in so doing, supplies a service that is self reflective and constantly improving.
The Prisoners' Advice Service
Grant awarded: £40,000
People in prison are often disadvantaged by not knowing where to go for advice. The Prisoners' Advice Service is the only national free legal advice charity that assists people in prison and provides expert prison law caseworkers who give advice to prisoners on a range of issues. In 2004 the Pilgrim Trust, with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, funded the establishment of a legal caseworker post specialising in assisting women prisoners. Women in prison have special needs relating to contact with their children, mental health and self-harm and complaints about treatment. Since 2005 the women prisoners' caseworker has dealt with 147 cases and given 2,500 pieces of written advice, with outreach sessions being established in HMP Send, Holloway and Cookham Wood. The Pilgrim Trust agreed to continue funding the post for a further two years.
