Tees Foundation

This is brilliant to see! Well done to everyone involved 👏

Everyone here at the Tees Foundation is very sad to hear of the passing of our founding patron and donor, Les Bell, who was of course the man who almost single-handedly introduced the concept of convenience stores into Teesside. Having been inspired by the 7-Eleven stores during a visit to the US in the 1960s, Les set about bringing convenience shopping to our region and by 1968, he'd opened his first two stores in Guisborough and Marske. By the time Sainbury's snapped the company up in 2004, it had grown to 54 outlets across the North-East, a head office in Skelton and a 1000-strong workforce. Les was the Foundation's first significant supporter; his passion for East Cleveland inspired him to create the Les Bell Family Fund - our first ever named fund - which enabled him to give something back to the area in which he grew up and loved. As a team, we all fondly remember him and his mischievous sense of humour and we looked forward to him popping in to see us on his way back from a round of golf. Les was a leading public figure in the Teesside business world; he was president of Teesside TEC, director of Teesside Tomorrow and a pivotal supporter of the then-named Cleveland Community Foundation . He was proud of his success and his ability to help others through his relationship with the Tees Foundation, and we considered him our first and best friend. The thoughts of everyone here at Tees Foundation are with Les' family at this very sad time. Here are a few words from Les himself, which we published in our 25th anniversary celebration book. Thank you, Les. "The first thing that happened to me was that I got a phone call from Ron Norman (chairman). I was getting so many letters asking me for help that I just didn't have time to go through them. I read the info on the Foundation and thought this is an ideal vehicle. What lit me up was that if I put money into it, they didn't spend the capital, but just the interest from it. "We agreed to meet at a pub for some lunch and, as I was motoring along to meet him in the Roller, I was thinking to myself 'how much should I put in here? I had a figure of 100 grand in my head when I pulled up at the restaurant. It was a red-hot summer's day and Ron was sitting outside smoking a cigar, and looking very bright and breezy. So we introduced ourselves and Ron said 'we have no money at the moment, will a sandwich do, Les?' I said 'aye, alright' so we had a sandwich and a pint, and afterwards, Ron pulled his cigars out, then put them back in his pocket without offering me one. So I thought 'right, you bugger, you're only having 75 grand!' "Ron's version of those events is a bit different, though! He remembers me pulling up in my Roller and thinking to himself well, I was going to ask him for 50 grand, now l'll ask him for a 100!"

We are delighted to share the news that our award-winning partnership with Cash for Kids is back! Please share to all your contacts in community sports clubs across Teesside and help us make this year's Sports Challenge the best yet! Are you ready to energise your community and get more children involved in sport? The Foundation's Tees Million and Cash for Kids (Hits Radio) are calling on grassroots sports groups across Teesside to join our unique fundraising competition! Sports Challenge is about breaking down barriers to sport for children and young people facing disadvantage or disability, so we’re on the lookout for groups that can make a real impact. Up to 30 groups will be selected and have from 7th September to 7th October to raise as much as they can, but don’t worry – they won’t be doing it alone! Cash for Kids will be by their side every step of the way offering expert fundraising advice and a full set of materials to help them succeed, so everyone taking part will gain valuable skills to boost their future fundraising efforts too! And here's the best part – all groups get to keep 100% of the funds they raise PLUS we have up to £87,000 of prizes and match-funding up for grabs! The 30 finalist groups will be split into two pools (50 members or less and over 50 members), then on top of what they raise the top three fundraising groups in each pool will receive* 1st Place - £5,000 2nd Place - £4,000 3rd Place - £3,000 All other finalists will receive match-funding of up to £2,500, PLUS there's also three special awards in both pools of £500 each which could go to any group - the Teamwork Award, the Sports Challenge Champion Award and the Judge's Choice Award! Entries are open until midday on Monday 2nd September. Please read the challenge terms and conditions before entering via this link! https://lnkd.in/ee_jidyc

Lovely to see our former Chairman, Neil Kenley, who popped in for a brew with us to hear all about the Tees Million. 🍵

Here's our long-time friend and award-winning broadcaster, John Foster having a brew from his new Tees Million mug! Cheers John 🫸🫷🙌 Head over to teesmillion.org to learn more about it - especially if you are connected to charities and community groups in Teesside that would benefit from grant funding. 😎

We're excited to share our news with you! We’ve seen MANY changes and challenges in our community over the last three decades and more, and we're proud to say, we’ve been able to bring a consistent sense of stability to the people we serve throughout that time. We’ve always strived to be a dynamic and relevant charity; with this in mind the Trustees have decided it’s time to refresh the identity of our organisation and the way we provide vital support to our community, to send out a clear message of who we are and what we do. We are delighted to share with you that from today, we are now the Tees Foundation - simple, clear and here for the community of Teesside. As part of this change, we have streamlined our grant programmes into one single brand - the Tees Million - which is as exciting as it sounds! Watch this space for further updates today!

We’ve been independently providing grants and support to the people of our community for 35 years, distributing in excess of £40 million to help good causes in the area. Those of you who have long memories, who have been with us throughout the whole journey, will remember we started life in 1989 as the Cleveland Community Foundation. In keeping with the ever-changing identity of our area, we then became the Tees Valley Community Foundation in 2003. And so here we are, another 21 years later, preparing to take another step forward with this wonderful community organisation. Watch this space...!

We’ve been independently providing grants and support to the people of our community for 35 years, distributing in excess of £40 million to help good causes in the area. Those of you who have long memories, who have been with us throughout the whole journey, will remember we started life in 1989 as the Cleveland Community Foundation. In keeping with the ever-changing identity of our area, we then became the Tees Valley Community Foundation in 2003. And so here we are, another 21 years later, preparing to take another step forward with this wonderful community organisation. Watch this space...!

PlayZones Briefing Session for the VCS in Redcar and Cleveland! Please share with any contacts you have in this area who may be interested. Thank you! Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Cleveland Borough Council is currently working with the Football Foundation on an exciting initiative called PlayZones. PlayZones are small sided, outdoor, multi-sport and recreational facilities. PlayZones will create safe spaces for communities to be more active, but importantly will provide opportunities for people who are inactive and face barriers to engaging with traditional sport and physical activity programmes. In order to share information about the Football Foundation PlayZone opportunity, we would like to invite VCS organisations from across Redcar and Cleveland to attend the following briefing session: • Thursday 23rd May 2024 – 12.30-2pm, Tuned In, Majuba Rd, Redcar TS10 5BJ Please only attend the session if you: • Have available land or existing outdoor space to accommodate a PlayZone within your site and have security of tenure on that land or outdoor space. • Are committed to ensuring year-round community access and usage at the PlayZone, as these facilities cannot be for the exclusive use of your organisation. • Have the potential to provide 25% of the match funding required (estimated to be c£50-60k) alongside the 75% funding available from the Football Foundation. • Can fully commit to developing a PlayZone facility by the end of the end of July 2024. Please email Pippa Ware at pippa.ware@keystonebuildingconsultancy.co.uk to secure your place. Zoom links will be provided after registration. If you would like to find out more, but are unable to attend a Briefing Session, please contact Pippa directly on the above email address. Note – These Briefing Sessions are designed as an information sharing exercise only. No decisions have yet been made locally about where Football Foundation PlayZones could be located across Redcar and Cleveland or who potential operators of PlayZone sites could be.