About
LCC Community Trust is a registered charity that aims to serve the local community of Lisburn and its surrounding areas with projects which help people physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, spiritually and relationally especially in areas of need and deprivation and those in crisis.
The charity works with people of all ages, abilities, beliefs and backgrounds and are particularly focused on working with those from a low-income background, those who are long term unemployed, those suffering with mental health problems or those from BAME backgrounds living in the Lisburn area.
Activities provided include Foodbank, Social Supermarket, holiday meals club, personal development support, budgeting and cooking skills. LCC Community Trust also delivers a range of diversity programmes including introduction to English, cultural cooking nights and afterschool support.
Our work
LCC Community Trust signed up to our FundReady Support Package in April 2016 and the initial focus of our support was to assist the charity to secure small grants to provide resources to structure, develop and enhance its programmes in line with local needs and demand. An important part of this early work was also building the profile of the charity with funders, particularly as it had historically limited success accessing funding.
From there, the focus moved to accessing more secure funding programmes that could support salaries, contribute to running costs and allow the charity to grow and develop. To support this work, our team helped shape and design consultation activities, completed regular update and planning meetings with key staff and supported the charity to shape new projects and initiatives. Importantly, LCC Community Trust has been able to expand its Foodbank in line with rising demand, establish its Social Supermarket and develop its suite of programmes and support for families living in poverty, unemployed people and at-risk groups.
“In 2013, our community work started to expand at great speed and we quickly realised we would need more funds for additional staff and project costs to keep up with the demand for our services. In 2016, we were introduced to S3 Solutions.
They have been able to advise and support our board in how to access grant funding, hold fundraisers, how to manage client and funder relationships and reporting. The support of S3 Solutions has been invaluable to our organisation as we have grown and developed over the years. We now run 4 key projects, one of which is a government pilot, we have 7 staff, 100 volunteers and we have won countless awards for our work in the community.
This has all been made possible by our funders and therefore by S3 Solutions who have helped us navigate the world of Community & Voluntary Sector funding. S3 Solutions have helped us secure circa £500,000 in funding in the past 5 years.”
