Golden Giveaway 2026 Finalists!
Published on: 16th June 2026
Published on: 16th June 2026
AMALAwellness CIC – Amala Café Support
AMALAwellness CIC runs yoga, meditation, Tai Chi and chair-based exercise classes across Teesside, reaching over 350 people weekly through 27 classes. They work with NHS social prescribers to support older adults and people with limited mobility who face barriers to accessing traditional fitness services, currently receiving 3–4 referrals per week.
£500 would be spent on carrying provision of Chair Yoga and Exercise sessions, with a monthly wellbeing Cafe AMALA session after in Thorpe Thewles (Rural area of Stockton) where regular attendees who work on physical and mental wellbeing attend every week, as well as enjoying the social aspect of class. There is no other provision like this in the area, but due to being a village – class numbers average out at 10 people a session. The sessions play a vital role in reducing isolation, improving mobility and supporting overall wellbeing.
With £5,000, they would expand their social prescribing capacity to reduce waiting lists, strengthen partnerships with organisations like Teesside Mind and Parkinson’s UK, provide one-to-one support for newly referred individuals, and extend their Café AMALA sessions—informal social spaces after classes where people build friendships and tackle isolation. The funding would also create volunteering opportunities for local people, helping them gain skills and confidence whilst supporting the organisation to reach 450 beneficiaries instead of 70.
BIG KIDS – Consumables for Barneys Baby Bank
BiG KIDS runs Barney’s Baby Bank in Middlesbrough, providing free nappies, clothing and toiletries to families with young children living in poverty. Since opening in October 2024, they’ve supported 57 different families, with around 5 families visiting each week, and they want to double this to 10 families weekly.
The £5,000 grant would fund even more consumables like nappies and wash products for these families over a full year, allowing them to meet the growing demand rather than relying on unpredictable donations.
Boosbeck Village Hall – Community Led Events
Boosbeck Village Hall is a volunteer-run community space in East Cleveland that tackles loneliness through regular activities like their weekly Snack and Chat group and fortnightly singing sessions, alongside one-off events such as family quizzes and themed discos for children.
Whether they received £500 or £5,000, every penny would go directly into creating opportunities for people to connect, have fun, and feel part of something positive. Smaller funding would allow them to deliver smaller events, while a larger award would enable a bigger programme, reaching more people and having a bigger impact.
Most importantly, receiving funding means they can remove financial barriers. It allows them to offer events at a much lower cost, or even completely free, so that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, has the chance to attend, take part, and feel included.
The funding would directly support families facing financial pressure, reach more isolated people by giving them something to look forward to, and keep money circulating locally by working with community performers and small businesses.
Cleveland Boxing Club CIC – Youth Boxing Club Expansion
Cleveland Boxing Club CIC runs amateur boxing training for children aged 5-18 in Billingham, serving around 40 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton on Tees. The club operates entirely on volunteer coaches and minimal membership fees, relying on donations to stay open and keep children engaged in sport rather than on the streets.
£500 would buy boxing equipment for the kids who can’t afford it, cover some of the travel costs to competitions and general overheads
A £5,000 grant would fund essential boxing equipment for children who can’t afford it, cover competition travel costs, and enable the club to expand into a larger gym space—allowing them to reach more young people and strengthen the discipline and respect the club instils in its members.
Purple Door Studio CIC – Performing Arts Studio Support
Purple Door Studio CIC runs dance and theatre classes for around 80 children and young people across Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees, welcoming everyone regardless of ability or background. With rising living costs making activities like these unaffordable for many families.
With £500, they would be able to cover a portion of their monthly rent, helping to ease immediate financial pressure and allowing them to maintain the current pricing structure for families.
With a £5,000 grant they would be able to cover several months of studio rent, allowing the organisation to keep class fees low and remove financial barriers to participation. Beyond the arts skills they develop, young people gain confidence, wellbeing support, and a genuine sense of belonging in a safe, inclusive space where they feel valued.
FC Darlington Locomotives – Community Women & Girls Football Club
FC Darlington Locomotives has grown from 100 players to over 400 women and girls in four years by removing barriers like cost and confidence. Their core aim is simple: to create an environment where girls and women feel safe, supported and confident to take part in physical activity. They recognise that many face barriers such as cost, confidence, accessibility and lack of appropriate opportunities. As a result, they prioritise free and low-cost provision, inclusive delivery and strong community engagement to ensure those who need it most can access the sessions.
If awarded £500, this funding would help them extend our free offer through to the end of 2027. It would be used to cover essential costs such as equipment (footballs, bibs, cones and inclusive resources), as well as venue hire and training costs to support our leadership pathway. This includes upskilling older players to lead sessions for younger girls, creating a sustainable model where participants can progress into leadership roles and give back to their community.
With £5,000, they will launch a Leadership Academy for girls aged 12–16, establish three new free football hubs across Darlington, create weekly SEND provision for girls with additional needs, and deliver leadership qualifications that turn participants into coaches and role models for younger players. This investment creates pathways from early years through adulthood, ensuring women and girls in Darlington have safe, free access to sport and the chance to develop skills that extend far beyond the pitch.
Friends of Acklam Library – Acklam Library Autumn Community Events
Friends of Acklam Library brings together volunteers—teachers, project managers and retirees—to run free activities that tackle isolation and build community connections in Middlesbrough. Their weekly coffee morning for older residents has grown into a vital gathering where friendships flourish, whilst their school holiday programmes offer children creative activities like crafts, dance parties and author workshops that many families couldn’t otherwise afford.
If awarded £500, they would use the funding to deliver free activities and events for their local community during the October and December school holidays, as well as for the regular coffee morning attendees.
With £5,000, they would expand these activities across October and December, run sessions on writing, local history and armchair yoga for their coffee morning group, improve the children’s reading area with comfortable seating, and help older residents build confidence through practical demonstrations like learning to use an air fryer—all whilst freeing up the stretched volunteers from constant fundraising so they can focus on delivering the activities that matter.
Hoofprints CIC – Therapeutic Provision Support
Hoofprints CIC works with children and young people across the Tees Valley who are struggling with anxiety, trauma, school refusal, and low confidence, using animal-assisted therapy and outdoor activities to help them rebuild themselves.
With £500, they would focus on essential equipment that immediately enhances the quality and accessibility of their sessions. This includes sensory‑friendly resources, grooming kits, helmets, high‑visibility clothing, and structured activity materials such as wellbeing journals, creative tools, and confidence‑building tasks. They would also use part of this funding to subsidise places for families facing financial hardship, ensuring that no child is excluded due to cost.
The £5,000 grant would make their site fully accessible to wheelchair users and those with mobility needs, create a new outdoor therapy space with natural sensory elements, and install a warm, private therapy pod where young people can feel safe enough to open up for the first time.
This investment would allow them to support an additional 20–40 young people annually, bringing their total capacity to 80–120 children per year, whilst also offering fully funded places for the most vulnerable referrals from schools, social care, and domestic abuse services.
Let’s Pretend & Play CIC – Family Play Centre Upgrade
Let’s Pretend and Play CIC runs a community space in Hartlepool where around 80 families access free or affordable play sessions, food, and activities. After six years of constant use, their toys, equipment, and facilities are worn out.
If they were to win £500, they would use it to purchase new toys and essential equipment that our families rely on every day. This funding would help refresh the play areas and update small but important items in their kitchen and café spaces, ensuring families continue to have a safe, welcoming, and engaging place to visit.
Even a small amount would make a big difference to the families who depend on us for affordable play and support
With £5,000 they could replace all these items, redecorate, and fix the flooring so they can continue offering a safe, welcoming environment to families facing financial hardship. Without this funding, they would have to take money away from the direct support they give to families—food, play sessions, and activities—to pay for repairs and replacements.
Nitelight CIC – Community Hub Activities – Pie & Bingo Nights
Nite Light CIC set up in April 2020 to help the most vulnerable within the Tees Valley. Overall, working to reduce poverty and homelessness and increase health and well-being.
They are asking for assistance to help launch a pie club and free bingo sessions at their Southbank hub in Middlesbrough, targeting around 100 people living in poverty across the Tees Valley.
The funding will cover advertising and equipment like pie-making machines and bingo supplies for weekly Tuesday afternoon activities that people have specifically requested.
By offering free, social activities in a safe space, Nite Light aims to tackle the isolation and loneliness that comes with living in poverty, whilst also creating volunteering opportunities and giving people something meaningful to look forward to each week.
Maggie’s Middlesbrough – Cancer Aftercare Courses
In 2025, a new Maggie’s centre was opened at James Cook University Hospital, bringing this much needed different kind of cancer care to our area. Our tailored support is available on a drop-in and scheduled basis – Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm with no appointment, referral or waiting list. Our team helps people navigate the complexities of a diagnosis using a trauma-informed approach which is proven to enhance the overall quality of life at all stages of cancer.
Maggie’s Middlesbrough is asking for support to run six ‘Where Now?’ courses for people who have finished cancer treatment. These six-week programmes help around 30 people transition back to everyday life after treatment ends, addressing the physical tiredness, brain fog, and emotional struggles that often continue even when someone is cancer-free.
Sarah, who completed the course after finishing treatment for cancer, found it transformative—she particularly valued learning relaxation techniques from specialists and connecting with others who truly understood what she was going through, especially when waiting for scan results.
Another woman who received one of the course booklets became emotional when she read it, explaining that it finally gave her the words to describe to family and friends the fatigue and mental health challenges she was experiencing, which felt empowering after months of struggling to explain herself.
The funding would cover course materials, refreshments, wellness journals, and kitchen equipment for nutrition workshops, helping people feel less isolated, more in control of their future, and better equipped to manage the ongoing effects of their cancer journey.
Middlesbrough Amateur Swim Club
Middlesbrough Amateur Swim Club serves over 200 young swimmers from some of the most deprived areas in the region, offering them a safe, structured environment where they develop competitive skills and build resilience. The club’s equipment is over 30 years old and failing, threatening their ability to run the galas that both fund the club and give swimmers like those in their Academy (from age 6) essential competitive experience.
If they were awarded £500, it would enable them to provide a starter pack to swimmers who may not be able to afford the necessary kit to get started. This pack would include a club shirt, swim cap, kickboard, and pull buoy—essential items for training and competition. Not only would this ensure that swimmers are fully equipped and prepared for their swimming journey, but it would also help them feel part of the MASC community from the outset.
Having the right kit fosters a sense of belonging and pride, encouraging these swimmers to commit to their training and develop both their skills and confidence within the club.
The £5,000 grant would help replace timing boards, scoreboards, sound systems and training kit, whilst also supporting their expansion into open water swimming with safety equipment like wetsuits and tow floats—keeping the club financially viable and allowing them to continue hosting events that welcome 300 swimmers from across the region.
Regenerate – Hope for Autism CIC – Neurodiverse Children’s Support
ReGenerate – Hope for Autism CIC supports neurodiverse children aged 2-6 across Teesside through Saturday sensory sessions and school holiday programmes, helping them build confidence and develop skills in areas like physical activity, communication and food tolerance. The organisation has found that 75% of children who start their support aged 2-5 make meaningful progress in overcoming challenges, compared to just 24% of older children, which is why they are now focusing increasingly on early years work.
Whether they were to win £500 or £5,000, all the monies will go towards purchase sensory gym equipment (bilibos, wobble cushions, resistance tubes), replace worn-out soft play balls, buy balance bikes and a tricycle for outdoor activities, and contribute to rent—enabling the team to run smoother sessions where every child can participate, develop greater independence and confidence, and eventually access a planned sensory garden as part of longer-term nursery classes.
Stockton Sea Cadets – Support for costs and equipment
Stockton Sea Cadets runs a thriving programme for 58 young people aged 9 to 18, many with disabilities or educational challenges, supported entirely by 28 volunteers. The charity teaches life skills through nautical activities—from swimming and boating on the River Tees to drill competitions and field craft courses—whilst instilling values like respect, loyalty and courage, with many cadets going on to become volunteer staff themselves.
Either a £500 or £5,000 grant would cover essential building running costs (heating, electricity and water bills currently total £1,000–1,500 monthly) and equipment needs including boats, paddle boards and IT tablets, allowing them to keep their doors open three nights a week and most weekends to serve not just Stockton’s cadets but also young people from Darlington, Redcar, Middlesbrough and Guisborough who use their facilities.
Synthonia Scout Group – Scout Hut Repairs
Synthonia Scout Group in Stockton-on-Tees runs weekly activities for up to 100 young people each year, from age 4 through to young leaders, offering camping, outdoor adventures, and skill-building in an area where many families face economic challenges. Their Scout hut is showing signs of serious water damage that threatens the building’s future.
Contributions of any size will make a meaningful and tangible difference to the Centenary Project. A smaller grant, such as £500, would support the purchase of essential materials for immediate repairs and preventative works, helping to slow further deterioration.
A larger contribution of £5,000 would enable more substantial progress, including completing significant sections of roof repair and advancing the installation of the waterproofing system. Without these repairs, the group risks losing the stable base that allows them to provide trusted adult role models and positive activities for some of the most vulnerable young people in their community.
Tees Valley Together CIO – Hemlington Community Support
Tees Valley Together CIO is a community-led charity in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, supporting 60-80 individuals and families each week who face poverty and isolation. They run an Eco Shop offering affordable food and essentials, Warm Welcome sessions to reduce loneliness, holiday clubs for children, and clothing provision through their Home from Home project.
If awarded £500, they would use the funding to provide immediate, targeted support:
Even a small grant would allow them to support multiple households, reduce financial pressure, and ensure people can access essentials without stigma. This funding would be used quickly and directly within the local community.
The £5,000 grant would expand these services, helping more families’ access food and essentials without stigma, reducing financial pressure so they can afford energy and rent, and creating safe spaces where isolated residents can connect and access support before problems escalate.
Thornaby Deaf Club – Deaf Club Community Garden
Thornaby Deaf Club serves around 60 Deaf and hard-of-hearing people across Teesside who face real barriers accessing mainstream community spaces due to communication difficulties and lack of Deaf awareness. The club provides a vital hub where members can communicate freely in British Sign Language, build friendships, and reduce the isolation many experience.
With £500, Thornaby Deaf Club would be able to begin the first stage of our community garden project by purchasing essential gardening tools and basic equipment needed by volunteers and members. This would include items such as spades, forks, rakes, wheelbarrows, watering cans, gloves, compost, and plants.
With £5,000, Thornaby Deaf Club would be able to fully develop the community garden into a long-term, sustainable outdoor space for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people across Teesside.
The funding would allow us to purchase a secure storage shed, a full range of gardening tools and equipment, raised planting beds, plants, seating areas, and accessible pathways to make the garden welcoming and usable for all members, including older Deaf people and those with mobility difficulties.
Any funding received would help move them closer to their vision of creating a beautiful outdoor space that enhances the support and social opportunities they already provide. They want their members to benefit not only from friendship and community connection, but also from the positive impact of spending time outdoors, enjoying nature, taking part in exercise and gardening activities, and improving overall wellbeing through fresh air and meaningful social engagement.
The Moses Project – Food for Vulnerable Adults
The Moses Project in Stockton on Tees supports around 250 adults each year who are struggling with substance misuse and homelessness, providing hot meals, clean clothes and safe shelter as the foundation for their recovery journey. The organisation has served over 30,000 hot meals in the past year and runs activities like their Men’s Pie Club where people learn cooking skills whilst building relationships and confidence.
Quite simply, whether it was £500 or £5,000 every penny would go to food for beneficiaries.
Whether that is breakfast and a coffee, a hot meal at lunchtime, or a food parcel this is one of the ways they encourage people to engage with them. When they first come to the Moses Project, they are very wary of authority so it can take a long time to build trust. After living rough or sofa surfing and battling an addiction, food insecurity is the least of their concerns.
The grant would fund food entirely, removing the unpredictability caused by declining community donations and allowing their team to focus on delivering support rather than managing constant shortfalls—when people know where their next meal is coming from, they’re far more able to engage with the wider help on offer and work towards lasting stability.
The RDA Unicorn Centre – Equine Therapy Horse
The RDA Unicorn Centre provides therapeutic riding for disabled children, young people and adults across the Tees Valley, County Durham and North Yorkshire, supporting over 250 unique beneficiaries with a range of disabilities including physical disabilities, learning disabilities, autism and mental health challenges. Since COVID-19, the Centre has faced growing demand from riders who can no longer participate due to weight restrictions, forcing them to turn away both new riders and long-standing participants who have grown up with the service.
A £5,000 grant would be used to purchase a larger, appropriately trained RDA suitable horse capable of safely carrying riders above their current weight limit of 83kg and strengthen the Centre’s financial sustainability, whilst a £500 investment in an HR and workforce management system would modernise outdated manual processes and free up staff time to focus on delivering life-changing equine therapy.
William’s Den Hartlepool – Children’s Outdoor Allotment
William’s Den Hartlepool is creating an inclusive outdoor allotment space in Hartlepool specifically designed for children, families, and adults with disabilities. The founder, Glen Hughes, is driven by his own experience as a parent of William, a 6-year-old autistic and nonverbal son, and recognises how few safe, suitable outdoor spaces exist locally for disabled children and their families.
Whether they win £500 or £5,000 it would help to fund essential infrastructure—a greenhouse, potting shed, accessible decking, secure fencing, a mud kitchen, and a heated, accessible hut—enabling year-round outdoor learning, sensory play, and community connection for approximately 342 unique beneficiaries annually, whilst filling a significant gap in local provision for families who often feel excluded from unsuitable public spaces.
Vote for your winner here.
