Dragon donors (From The Oxford Times)
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Dragon donors
4:00pm Friday 20th April 2012 in Oxford
By Debbie Waite, Features writer
Painting is one of the activities run by the Sunrise Multicultural Project, which is one of the groups bidding for cash.
GENEROUS people are being invited to join a fast-paced Dragon’s Den-style event aimed at bringing donors and good causes together.
Funding Network Oxford’s ‘giving’ event will offer four community projects six minutes each to make a pitch to an audience of potential donors.
The donors then pledge cash to the causes that most impress them.
Last year, more than £27,000 was raised for charities including Playing Out, which works with communities to temporarily close off roads to enable safe play sessions for children.
Alice Ferguson, founder of Playing Out, said: “We received £6,000 in pledges and since then have gained support from Oxford City Council. We ran Oxford’s first ‘seed’ Playing Out session in September 2011.”
The Funding Network received 12 different proposals this year and has selected four to take part in the event at the North Wall Arts Centre, in South Parade, Summertown, Oxford, next Thursday.
Among the speakers will be Emma Mobbs, development manager for Startupnow for Women, which helps women ex-offenders gain financial independence through self employment.
She said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us and although I am a little nervous about standing up to talk, I’m very excited, because there are so many good things to tell people about Startupnow. We have a waiting list of women looking for our help and money from the event would help us to help even more women.”
The other groups involved are: The Mangro Project, which supports communities at risk from flooding in India; the Sunrise Multicultural Project, which provides play and learning activities for black and ethnic minority children; and The Nasio Trust, which works with young people to reduce antisocial behaviour by engaging them in fundraising for HIV orphans in Kenya.
Liz Parry, who sits on the Network’s funding committee, said: “There is a minimum pledge of £50 but there is no pressure to give. People can just come along to experience a fun and exciting evening if they wish.”
The event starts at 6.30pm, with a £5 entry fee to go towards refreshments.
* People can register to attend at thefundingnetwork.org.uk, or by calling 0845 313 8449.
