11/09/2025
The Pearce Foundation opened its doors for the first time after the summer with a focus on one of our core priorities: supporting grassroots Sussex organisations working at the heart of their communities.
We hosted a peer funding writing room session with skill-sharer Caz O’Kane and two brilliant charities we first met through BrightonSoup: Jay from The Village Food Bank, Brighton and Leah from One For All Forest School
We love everything about Brighton Soup, so when we were offered the chance to support them and the pitching charities in June, we made a donation. We were so impressed by what we heard that, staying true to our “more than money” model, we offered all the pitchers the opportunity for some bespoke support. This included a peer-led session to strengthen their fundraising skills, exploring the what, why and how of what they do.
Together we touched on the value of Theory of Change as a framework, explored impact, considered wider activities, and celebrated the many ways they support their communities. For us, it was also a reminder of how powerful peer support can be in building sustainability for small charities.
Here’s what Jay and Leah had to say:
Leah:
“The session helped me break down what I need to do for my next funding application. Putting everything into bite-sized, more manageable pieces felt less overwhelming.”
Jay:
“Exploring our purpose and how that translates into funding applications has been really useful. We also looked at ways to build up our evidence base and measure our impact, as well as how we can support our members in other ways.”
To find out more about their brilliant work, follow The Village Food Bank Brighton : https://www.thevillagefoodbank.org/ and
One for all Forest School: https://oneforallforestschool.org/
