In it for the long term

Long term funding from Hyde Charitable Trust and support from Hyde Foundation have improved opportunities for young people, boosted wellbeing and reduced isolation among older and disabled people living in Petworth, West Sussex.

Hyde Foundation, our communities and social investment team, works with local organisations who understand their communities best. This helps us to target Hyde Charitable Trust (HCT) grant funding where it’s needed most, and where it has the greatest impact.

In Petworth, grant funding and ongoing support over the past five years has strengthened service provision for local people, built stronger, more resilient and sustainable communities, and has helped our community partners secure their future.

“Life can be challenging for many people living in Petworth,” explained Hyde’s Communities and Social Impact Director, Felicity Hunt. “The town is a popular tourist destination but lacks many essential services, including good public transport connections, supermarkets and schools.

“We support a number of community partners across Chichester and West Sussex that provide services benefitting people living in Petworth. These partners can reach people quickly, consistently and with the right support.”

Partners include:

Community Transport Sussex

An HCT grant at the end of 2024 helped Community Transport Sussex lease an electric, wheelchair-accessible minibus. The Hyde Community Bus provides accessible and affordable transport for young families, and isolated disabled and older people, helping them get to the shops, access support services and visit parks and attractions. We’ll continue to fund the bus until summer 2027, with a further £40k grant.

UKHarvest

We’ve been funding UKHarvest since 2020, awarding a total of £59k. UKHarvest collects food that would otherwise go to waste from supermarkets, restaurants and manufacturers, and distributes it to those in need. A £20k grant helped pay for its first freezer van, enabling it to pick up and distribute frozen food, and funding over the past year has supported its community food hubs.

Family Support Work

A £7k grant is helping Family Support Work provide housing support, a six week holiday fun session, a weekly drop-in and breakfast club, and an after-school gardening project, for families in Midhurst and Petworth. We’ve awarded Family Support Work a further £11k to support activities until autumn 2027.

Gemma Arthurs, Trust Manager at Family Support Work, said: “The funding from Hyde has been invaluable. Hyde has helped link us with other charities in the area and has been a really proactive and enthusiastic funder.”

Age UK West Sussex

A £10.5k grant enabled Age UK West Sussex to deliver community pop-up events in rural West Sussex, to raise awareness of support services and activities. We’ve recently awarded another £21k so it can continue this important work until autumn 2027.

The Sylvia Beaufoy Centre

The Sylvia Beaufoy Centre offers a range of activities – and provides a safe meeting place – for young people aged 9 to 19 in Petworth and surrounding villages.

We’ve awarded £135k in grants to the centre since 2020. Funding has helped pay for a Senior Youth and Community Development Manager and helped the centre grow to work with more than 500 people a year. The centre has become a community hub, opening up its facilities and programmes to the wider community.

Petworth Community Wellbeing Garden

The garden delivers therapeutic horticultural and wellbeing projects for adults and children, including people with disabilities, at its community garden and kitchen space at an allotment owned by Hyde.

Our grants, totalling £61k since 2020, has helped the garden open sessions up to more people, train volunteers and start new initiatives, such as distributing food parcels to local residents. We also helped the garden register as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and supported it while it developed a long-term funding model to secure its future.

“We’re very grateful for the ongoing funding from HCT. We’re especially grateful for the advice on future funding and governance of our organisation,” said Petworth Community Wellbeing Garden’s Eleanor Gloster.

Felicity added: “The successes of our community partners in Petworth and the surrounding areas in the past few years demonstrates why it’s so important for us to support organisations in the long-term. Together, we can drive positive change for the people who live in our homes and neighbourhoods.”

HCT awarded £512k in grants to our community partners in 2024/25, helping them to provide local services supporting and empowering people to create successful and resilient lives for themselves and their communities. Find out more in the HCT Annual Review 2024/25 (PDF, 10MB).

Visit our Hyde Foundation pages to find out about the work of our communities and social investment team.