Preparing our first major funding application

A new wave of volunteers, big funding applications and plans for our next community get-together. It’s shaping up to be a busy, exciting year for the Moormead Pavilion project. Here are the highlights you’ll want to keep an eye on in 2025: 

We’re getting ready to submit our first major funding application. And it’s a big one. In early May, we’ll be launching our bid for the Richmond Council’s Community Fund. Our hope is to secure around £400,000.

We may not get it. Or we may get a smaller amount. But if we’re successful, this will be a massive boost for the Moormead Pavilion project.

“This fund is perfect for us,” says Anthony Richman, one of our new volunteers (more on Anthony later). “It’s all about regenerating quality open spaces, redeveloping buildings, cohesion in the community, supporting events and physical and mental wellbeing.”  

We’re also preparing to apply to the National Lottery, a fund Anthony is familiar with, having twice secured funding from it for another charity. Those applications were worth some £300,000, which fills us with hope. From there, we’ll be knocking on the doors of the Football Foundation, the Marathon Foundation and other sports charities. We’ve also got plans to approach smaller donors for smaller amounts. All of this means a major push for funding from now until the end of the year.

“You only really get one shot at going to funders,” explains Anthony. “So we’ve got to put our neck on the line. It’s now or never.” A lot of funders, Anthony adds, will restrict charities from applying again for a year or even two years.

“If you keep going back you also lose the impetus, not to mention the energy from volunteers. So 2025 is the big push year. We’re all coming together to do everything we can to make it happen.”

Speaking of everyone in the team coming together… our team of trustees and volunteers has grown. We’ve welcomed a new trustee: Tim Prendergast, a paralympic champion with a passion for making the pavilion as accessible as possible. We introduced Tim in our last blog.  

We’ve got some fantastic new volunteers too, like Anthony, who brings with him a wealth of experience in finance and fundraising. He serves as a trustee for the Sutton Vision charity, and was on the board of directors at the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation.

Anthony has fond memories playing football at Moormead Park. He’s a qualified personal trainer too, with a deep interest in fitness and wellbeing. Anthony says he’s met many great friends playing football or walking his dog.

“St Margarets became a community because of all the people I met. The park is a massive part of my community hub.”

We’ve also welcomed Yvonne Howie, a retired architect. Yvonne’s is taking a good look at our plans and designs. Her experience is going to be incredibly valuable a little further down the road. You’ll be hearing a lot more about Yvonne in coming months.

And finally, if you enjoyed our community picnic last year, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’re planning something for this summer. More details on that in a few weeks.

In other news, we’ve spoken to lots of local charities to see how we can partner with them to make Moormead a truly inclusive and accessible space. They’re keen to support the project, and use the space for new activities. If any residents out there have ideas on how to make Moormead more inclusive, or want to suggest new activities, we’re here to listen.

As part of this work, Mencap charity has a team who’ve offered to help us design the space to make it a great place for everyone to enjoy, whatever their needs.

If you’d like to join our team, we’re always on the lookout for volunteers.