A fund was launched earlier this year by Cheshire Community Foundation and Bentley Motors to support food poverty, mental health, and debt counselling projects in the county.
In the luxury car market, Bentley Motors is the most sought-after vehicle. The company’s headquarters in Crewe house all of its operations, including engineering, research and development, and production of its three models – Continental, Flying Spur, and Bentayga.
Bentley Motors and the Cheshire Community Foundation are pleased to announce details of the local groups that have been awarded grants to deliver Covid recovery projects in Crewe over the next 12 months.
The one-off grants, which range from £7,800 to £25,000 have been awarded to projects that tackle food poverty; mental health and wellbeing; debt relief and financial education – recognising that many people will have been affected by all three issues as a result of the Covid pandemic. Enhancing services across these key areas will support people needing joined-up support. Over 5,000 individuals are expected to benefit first-hand across the 11 projects funded.
The successful applicants include Motherwell the women’s mental health charity, Pennysmart money advice organisation, and Chance Changing Lives community pantry. These projects will have a real measurable impact, directly involving over 5,000 people, helping to rebuild their lives after the pandemic and sending positive ripples out through the community with an estimated 10,000 further family members due to benefit indirectly.
Beneficiaries Changing Lives with Zoe Sheppard, CEO of Cheshire Community Foundation 
Bentley Motors 75 years of car production from the luxury marque’s iconic factory in Crewe, England.
Bentley’s Member of the Board for People, Digitalisation and IT, Dr Astrid Fontaine said:
“Communities everywhere have been profoundly affected by Covid. Our goal in establishing this fund with Cheshire Community Foundation – as part of our wider “Come Back Stronger” – Covid recovery campaign is to support locally run projects that can make a quick and tangible change to people’s lives in the Crewe area.
“We know that many local organisations are themselves struggling with funding issues due to the pandemic, so this additional injection of support enables them to stay focused on delivery at this critical time.
“Crewe has been Bentley’s home for more than 75 years, and our relationship with the town is key to who we are. We are very pleased to be able to make this support available at this time.”
Support for the local community is a key part of Bentley’s Beyond100 commitment, which focuses on advancing life chances through its corporate social responsibility programme.
Over 5,000 people in the local area stand to benefit directly, with a further estimated 10,000 benefitting indirectly.
This new fund has significantly bolstered the funding available to local not-for-profit organisations in 2021, allowing them to focus on their vital work in the community.
