Local giving for local needs

Welcome to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation

Apply For A Grant

Our grants support charities, community groups and voluntary organisations in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Get Involved

We ensure that your charitable giving supports the people that are most in need across our local communities

Making A Difference

HIWCF is an independent charitable foundation specialising in building funds and awarding grants on behalf of donors and fundholders. Our aim is to support the vital work of smaller charities, community groups and voluntary organisations across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

£2.3M

awarded during 2020 through 462 emergency grants

Our grants benefitted an estimated 177,000 disadvantaged local people in 2020.

£13M

in grant funding has been awarded to 4,100 organisations

Benefitting over 1 million vulnerable and disadvantaged people in local communities.

£15M

has been built in endowment funds for the community

Making a difference today and allowing for the changing needs of future generations.

"This grant will enable volunteers to deliver weekly food parcels to an increasing number of vulnerable families, reducing anxiety as to where the next meal is coming from.”

"This grant will help us to continue to provide support for our most vulnerable to remain at home, not only through providing shopping and prescriptions, but also gardening, dog walking and activity packs."

"I really appreciate your calls, it has become an important part of keeping me going. Thank you!"

"Practical support and therapy is needed more now than ever before in these challenging times. Covid-19 is impacting young people's mental health and emotional well-being and this funding will ensure we are providing the most appropriate support to these families."

"The Pink Place Zoom sessions during the weeks of Lockdown helped me enormously. It gave me a focus, a purpose and lifted my spirits. It was lovely to ‘see’ people and chat."

"Without our Rainbow Trust support worker Liz as a helping hand mentally and emotionally, being there to help with transportation, we would find this time a lot harder and lonelier; Liz has been amazing providing our family with support."

The Impact of Covid-19

The Coronavirus crisis has shown us that community is at the heart of all of our lives, resulting in intense pressure and challenge for the local charitable sector. However, it has also been a time of huge achievement, with organisations adapting and transforming the way they work in order to respond to the urgent needs of local people.

The Foundation awarded over three times the amount of grants in 2020, at £2.3m, compared with £703,000 in 2019, representing our busiest year to date. We are now working to ensure that our local charitable sector and the people living in our communities can get back on their feet and recover from the impact of Covid-19, to become stronger and better prepared for any future crises.