Fundraising Update: November 2026

It’s been a busy autumn behind the scenes, so I wanted to give everyone who supports Impact Buckingham a proper update: what you’ve given this year, the grants that have come in, and the ones we’re still waiting to hear about.

What you’ve given since April

Since our financial year began on 1 April 2026, local people and businesses have given just over £7,000 to Impact Buckingham, through JustGiving, our own donation page, bank transfers, the collection pots around town and more than 200 contactless donations on our card machine. On top of that, HMRC paid us £601 in October through Gift Aid and the small donations scheme, money we could only claim because so many of you ticked the Gift Aid box or tapped a card.

Most of it arrived as gifts of £5 and £10, and I’m grateful for every one of them.

The grants we’ve received

Alongside your donations, three grants have come our way this year, all through Heart of Bucks, Buckinghamshire’s community foundation:

• £5,000 from the Rothschild Foundation Grassroots Grant Fund, which went towards the £11,175 of supermarket vouchers we gave to 149 families before the summer holidays. That grant is now spent and reported on.
• £3,000 from a private donor through Heart of Bucks, awarded in October for our Christmas Campaign. Heart of Bucks suggested we apply for it in the first place, and I’m very grateful they did.
• £5,000 from the Young Futures Fund, awarded on 5 November. This one lets us add Buckingham Primary School to the Christmas Campaign, so this year we’ll be supporting families at every primary school in Buckingham.

That’s £13,000 in grants in a single year, for a charity that only began at The Mitre in December 2025.

Christmas 2026

This Christmas we’re giving £50 supermarket vouchers to 250 families in receipt of the Pupil Premium, across Lace Hill Academy, George Grenville Academy, Bourton Meadow Academy and Buckingham Primary School. After how well the summer vouchers worked, we’ve moved away from hampers this year: families choose the supermarket that suits them, and with this many families, vouchers are far quicker and simpler to get out.

The whole campaign costs £12,500. The two Christmas grants cover £8,000 of it, which leaves £4,500 to come from local donations, and that’s where we need your help.

Two local businesses have already chosen us for their Christmas events: URBΔN ŌM Yoga’s Festive Fundraiser on Friday 4 December, and the PUP evening at Huntsmill Farm on Friday 18 December. Thank you both.

The grants we’re waiting to hear about

We’ve also applied for a further £30,000, most of it to build on this year from April 2027:

• Rothschild Foundation Grassroots Grant Fund, £5,000, for this Christmas, with a decision due in December. If it’s successful, we’ll use it to raise the value of this year’s Christmas vouchers.
• Buckingham Town Council, £2,000, towards the Summer Holidays Campaign 2027. It’s the first time we’ve applied to the Town Council.
• Souter Charitable Trust, £3,000, for 40 summer vouchers in 2027. Their trustees meet on 3 December.
• The National Lottery Community Fund, £20,000, through Awards for All, for April 2027 to March 2028. This would let us bring in Buckingham’s two secondary schools, The Buckingham School and the Royal Latin School, reaching around 400 families in all, and raise the vouchers to £100 in summer and £60 at Christmas.

None of these is certain, and we’ll only ever plan around money we actually have, but I’ll post an update here as soon as we hear.

Three ways you can help

Every route below reaches families in Buckingham and the surrounding villages. If you’re a UK taxpayer, adding Gift Aid makes your donation worth 25% more at no extra cost to you.

Thank you for everything you’ve done for local families this year.

Pete Edwards
Chair of Trustees, Impact Buckingham