​International Women’s Day was celebrated at the Friendship Café in Gloucester for the first time this year to celebrate women whatever their social backgrounds, nationality, work or financial status, faith or culture.
The number of guests totalled 260, many coming from the immediate area, others from across Gloucestershire and some travelling from even further away to make it to this wonderful evening. Invited guests included working partners, funders, friends of the Friendship Café and workshop leaders. The event also launched ‘Inspire @ The Friendship Café’, which is a new initiative to promote women’s services at the Friendship Café. The ‘Inspire’ committee were joined by 20 volunteers who helped to support the event which has received such positive feedback from all involved.
The evening started with an Aysha special welcome drink and then guests were invited to sign up to their choice of workshop (yoga, rangoli, planting, crochet and dorset buttons) and experience something different. Henna artists were also on hand to decorate hands.
The evening generated a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere, with plenty of smiles and a chance to dress up (or down) to suit.
Guests were welcomed by Aysha who was followed by the speakers, Jenny and Bilkis from the ‘Inspire’ team, Bishop Rachel and Amirah Nandla. Each spoke briefly but importantly about issues affecting women today, in this country and abroad, and the need to keep inspiring young women to continue to follow their dreams and help make changes for women all over the world.
Food was ordered from local women who are setting up small catering businesses, and even that was international. We had samosas (Indian), spring rolls (Chinese), Batata Waras (Pakistani/Bengali) and Patties (Jamaican), Quiche (English), Chicken Shawarma wrap or falafel wrap (Syria) and also Maha Blanca (Phiilipines). The ‘Inspire’ team tried to make it truly international to reflect the communities we serve.
We ended the evening with some tips about how to look after ourselves followed by a prize draw. Gifts were donated by organisations, 'Inspire @ The Friendship Café’ team and the Friendship Café staff and friends.
It was a wonderful evening that aimed to inspire women of all backgrounds to be more involved and to be part of a new future for women.

​​Katie Hicks Beach, The Very Rev Stephen Lake, James Millar, Vanessa Arbuthnott, Margaret Brown, David Owen,
​Edward Gillespie, Lavinia Sidgwick.

Some Gloucester based charities supported by the Summerfield Trust gave a mixture of performances and talks to funders and supporters of the Lady Chapel project and friends of the Summerfield Trust.
 
The Celebration was led by The Very Revd Stephen Lake, Dean of Gloucester
 
Performances were given by:

​Artshape – Via Dance Company
The Summerfield Trust have supported a variety of Arts projects since 1999.  The young people with mixed disabilities performed a dance piece called ‘Catfish’, which raised awareness of the dangers of young people using Social Media. 

​Friendship Café – Street United presents a performance of street dance
The café and it’s various projects have been supported by The Summerfield Trust since 2002.  This was the first public performance for Street United, a group of talented dancers aged between 4 and 18 years old. The dance group offers its members people to talk to, a sign help or just wanting to raise children’s confidence.

​Gloucester Bike Project 
The project is a not for profit social enterprise offering free bike maintenance and bike building courses for young people and adults. A donation from the Summerfield Charitable Trust of £25,000 allowed them to refurbish one floor of their new site.

Maureen Parker (on the right) gave an explanation of the charity.

​GL4 Beats performed a beat box and singing set called ‘Strike a light’
GL4 Beat is a free singing, rapping and beatbox group who meet weekly at The Redwell Centre in Matson. The young people get a chance to work on vocal techniques and the venue at the Cathedral provided excellent acoustics to enhance their accomplished performance.

​Gloucester History festival (GUST) 
Naisha Hussein gave a talk on the Asian suffragette, Princess Sofia.  The Summerfield Trust has helped to fund GUST in 2016 and 2017.  GUST is a charitable organisation set up by Donna Renney to support cultural development in Gloucester.

Gloucester Music Society
Hannah Talbot-Cooper gave a Flute performance of CPE Bach Sonata in A minor.
Gloucester Music Society has been supported by the Summerfield Trust in order to provide the high quality and innovative concerts its members have come to expect. 

This Year Summerfield sponsored: 
Cheltenham Science Festival Lecture ‘True Cost of Humans’
This was a thought provoking discussion chaired by Alice Roberts, Biologist Adam Hart was joined by geographer and geologist Mark Maslin and ecologist and conservation scientist Georgina Mace to talk about the impact humans are having upon the planet, what we may expect to happen in the future and what we can do to reduce our impact.
People chose to attend the event because:
“Very interested in the subject matter and wanted to learn more about it”
“Subject appealed and a strong panel”
Thoughts that people attending the event
“The subject matter is very important to me - many of the suggestions of how to minimise our negative impact on the earth reaffirmed that I already try my best in all respects. The scientific knowledge offered is useful when talking about these issues with others as I feel I have a better understanding after this event”
“The enormity of the situation and what we can do as individuals to help”
 
The next Cheltenham event sponsored by Summerfield Charitable Trust will be:
The Cheltenham Literature Festival on Friday 12th October at the Town Hall from 6.15- 7.15pm and speaker will be The BBC News Presenter and Author, Mishal Hussain.   

​The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of The Queen's coronation.
Any group doing volunteer work that provides a social, economic or environmental service to the local community can be nominated for the award. Each group is assessed on the benefit it brings to the local community and its standing within that community.
The 11 noteworthy local charities will be presented with their award between June and October 2018:
 
Art Couture Painswick
Brain Tumour Support
Gloucestershire Youth Mini Bike Project
Home Start Cotswolds
Jigsaw Thornbury
Patchway Festival
South Gloucestershire Breastfeeding Peer Support Service
Tewkesbury Sea Cadets
The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens
The Friends of Bathurst Pool
The Holst Birthplace Trust

In 2017 £578,167  was awarded in grants, including 5 pledges totalling £105,132 which will  be paid over the next two years.  
​

• The arts, museums and the built heritage - £301,958
• The environment and natural heritage - £63,100
• Community work - £120,033
• Education, sport and recreation - £84,171
• Vulnerable or disadvantaged sectors of society - £188,405

To read more about the individual organisations and Gloucestershire projects funded, please click on the thumbnail image (left) to open the report. Grants Paid Page

​The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of The Queen's coronation.
Any group doing volunteer work that provides a social, economic or environmental service to the local community can be nominated for the award. Each group is assessed on the benefit it brings to the local community and its standing within that community.
The 11 noteworthy local charities will be presented with their award between June and October 2018:
 
Art Couture Painswick
Brain Tumour Support
Gloucestershire Youth Mini Bike Project
Home Start Cotswolds
Jigsaw Thornbury
Patchway Festival
South Gloucestershire Breastfeeding Peer Support Service
Tewkesbury Sea Cadets
The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens
The Friends of Bathurst Pool
The Holst Birthplace Trust

On the 6th of June 2017, Trustees and friends of The ​Gloucestershire Gateway Trust held a special dinner to celebrate the Trust's 10th anniversary, and its unique partnership with the Westmorland Family.  The Dinner also bid a fond farewell to Charles Fisher, former Trustee of The Summerfield Charitable Trust and Chairman to The Gloucestershire Gateway Trust for the previous ten years.   The Dinner was held in the wonderful surroundings of the House of Commons. 

Following the retirement of Anthony McClaren as Trustee in October 2015, we were delighted to welcome Mr David Owen to our board of Trustees. 

​David was born and brought up in Gloucestershire, studying at Brockworth School, before gaining a degree in Business Studies from Liverpool John Moores University. He spent ten years in the North West working across the education sector and as MD of a start-up, high-growth, training business. For the last fifteen years he has worked in Gloucestershire, first as Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Gloucestershire and now as Chief Executive of GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership (gfirstLEP).  He is currently a director of Gloucestershire Voluntary & Community Sector Alliance, South West Investment Group and Gloucestershire Enterprise Limited and is a member of the International Advisory Group of the Economic Development Council.  He lives in Stroud with his author wife and two daughters.

David attended his first meeting as Trustee in February. This also gave him the opportunity to me our team of Advisers. 
LINK: gfirstLEP website

The Summerfield Event
The Ultimate Guide To Happiness
Wed 7 Oct 2015 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Cheltenham Town Hall, University of Warwick Stage
£8 

Tickets on sale now - CLICK HERE TO BOOK

At their July quarterly meeting, the Trustees awarded a grant of £20,000 to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for their 'Cradle of the Cotswolds' project at Greystones Farm in Bourton on the Water.

Greystones Farm nature reserve is a unique site, with a long history of human settlement that has produced a wealth of nationally important heritage features. Although Greystones is already an enjoyable place to visit, many of the traditional farm buildings are derelict and there is scant information about the important heritage around the Farm. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has always aspired to restore the farm and transform it into a location where people can learn about the rich wildlife and history of the Cotswolds.

Click on the link below to read more about the project.

LINK: Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust news

At their April 2015 quarterly meeting the Trustees awarded a grant of £75,000 to the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury towards their capital campaign for redevelopment and modernisation of the community arts centre and theatre.

The grant helped them to break through the half-way barrier of their Capital Campaign, and they have now raised over half a million pounds.

Click here to read more about the campaign.

The Trustees and staff of the Summerfield Charitable Trust would like to congratulate Gloucester Services on winning their recent award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Local Food Development' at the Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards 2015, and wish them good luck and continued success with the opening of the Southbound Services on Tuesday 19th May 2015.
 
We are proud to be one of the early supporters of the project back in 2007. 

LINKS:
Gloucester Services
Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards
Summerfield Trust support

In March this year the Trustees of the Grace Fry Charitable Trust transferred their investments to the Summerfield Charitable Trust in order that the Summerfield Trust could distribute more grants to benefit Gloucestershire charities.

Grace Fry lived in Cheltenham and keenly supported many causes similar to those of the Summerfield Trust. After her death, her Trust continued for a few years but the Trustees eventually recognised that by moving their investments to the Summerfield Trust, Mrs Fry's wishes could be retained but without the overheads.

In February this year The Summerfield Trust awarded a grant of £10,000 to CREATE Gloucestershire to promote a Gloucestershire apprenticeship scheme which is providing opportunities for young people wanting to go into the creative industries. 
Create Gloucestershire has recruited 13 apprentices and interns so far through the Creative Employment Programme.
CLICK HERE to read more about the scheme.

Click on the links below for the full story:

Gloucestershire Echo - 30/12/2014
Queen's New Year Honours 2014: Former Cheltenham Racecourse boss Edward Gillespie awarded OBE

Racing Post - 31/12/2014
Former Cheltenham Chief Gillespie Awarded OBE

Applications for consideration at the April Trustee meeting will open on 26/01/2015. See website for details.