Cranfield Trust

Since 1989, Cranfield Trust has been providing free management support to welfare charities and not-for-organisations to help them develop and thrive.

Triangle Trust has been working with Cranfield Trust since 2021 as part of Triangle Trust’s commitment to supporting grantees beyond just funding. Cranfield Trust is providing management support services, such as consultancy and mentoring, as well as peer support and free resources to selected grantees.  This will contribute to improved effectiveness in management and service delivery for grantees and increase the overall impact of the financial investment and support that Triangle Trust provides.

In 2023, Triangle Trust awarded a grant of £90,000 to Cranfield Trust to enable the Trust to deliver support to a wide range of organisation across the Triangle Trust funding portfolio over a 3-year period.

Cranfield Trust  

Prison Reform Trust

Prison Reform Trust  

Social Finance

Social Finance  

Kinship

A growing number of children are entering kinship care arrangements and whilst there is a growing awareness of kinship care in local and national government there is an increasing urgency to improve the situation for kinship carers.

Whilst kinship care is usually a more positive alternative for children and young people who are unable to remain in the care of their birth parents, as a group kinship carer families are extremely vulnerable. Carers are older, over 60% of kinship carers are over 55, and the majority are grandparents. They are also poorer, 76% of kinship care children live in deprived households and kinship carers are also in worse health than any other group raising children.

Kinship carers often feel invisible and taken for granted but have traditionally been a group who are keen to speak out and raise awareness of the issues that affect them. Kinship intends to utilise this and the strong networks of kinship carers tat exist in the North East of England and develop a powerful network of campaigners. They will be supported to come together to influence a step change in kinship care awareness and support at local and national level. This will be used as a model to roll out to other groups of kinship carers across England to drive both local change and influence national agendas such as the adoption of a Kinship Care Bill.

A grant of £50,000 was awarded over 12 months to employ a Campaigns and Engagement Officer.

Kinship  

Place2Be

Founded in 1994, Place2Be’s mission is to improve children and young people’s mental health, providing a range of evidence-based mental health interventions in schools. Place2Be is utilising their expertise and reach across schools in order to improve identification and support for young carers in schools. Young carers are children and young people who care for a family member, relative or friend. A young carer might support someone with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or issues related to drug or alcohol use. Unfortunately, many young carers remain unidentified and unsupported which affects their education, social connections and mental health.

Place2Be’s Art Room team is working with young carers and young carer services to co-design an Art Room Legacy Project. Place2Be’s Art Room is a project which uses art to support children and young people’s mental health. Young carers are being consulted in the development of digital Art Room resources to engage young carers in creative activities, so they can reflect on their experiences and be supported to build positive social and emotional connections with others. The project aims to improve identification and support for young carers in schools by increasing awareness and understanding through digital resources co-designed and developed with young carers. These resources will be shared widely, including via Place2Be’s online platform ‘The Staffroom’, accessed by 13,000 teachers and school staff nationally.

The Triangle Trust has awarded £60,000 towards this project, which is taking place over an 18 month period.

Place2Be  

Women in Prison

Women in contact with the criminal justice system face multiple disadvantages and inequalities but services supporting them are often the same as those designed to support men. The need for women to be supported differently and to be able to access this support in safe spaces specifically for women is becoming more widely recognised across the sector and in government. However, funding to deliver these kind of services is not being prioritised.

Women’s Centres are seen as being an ideal solution to this issue and those already working with female offenders see significant positive outcomes for women and significant cost savings. There is a growing group of women’s organisations advocating for the expansion of Women’s Centres but their voices need to be amplified.

Triangle Trust funding will enable Women in Prison to provide the support needed to develop the current coalition of stakeholders into a more formal Federation of Women’s Centres and grow the number of members. A grant of £50,000 has been awarded over 12 months.

Women in Prison