Richmond upon Thames Voluntary Fund

Apply to become a beneficiary charity

Beneficiaries for the Richmond Voluntary Fund 2026 Charity Appeal have been selected by the trustees.

About the fund

The Voluntary Fund is an independent charitable trust that has been set up to give the local community the opportunity to donate to local organisations who make a difference to the lives of vulnerable people in the borough.

The Council is unable to provide all the support needed due to huge reductions in our own funding. The services funded by these charitable donations will be in addition to those already funded by us.

Find out about amounts raised in previous years.

Beneficiary charities

Every year the trustees select a vulnerable group who have a need for community funding to provide help and support.

They then invite expressions of interest from voluntary and community organisations to be the chosen beneficiaries. The expressions of interest are reviewed by trustees and the beneficiary charities are selected.

The three selected beneficiary charities for 2026 to 2027 are:

Brighter Together (Registered charity 1190557)

Brighter Together brings young children and older adults together for intergenerational sessions and shared activities. The project links nursery schools with care homes and day centres for facilitated weekly sessions that bring children aged 3 to 5 and older adults together for mutually beneficial structured intergenerational learning. The sessions are aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework to strengthen speech, language, social and emotional development to support school readiness.

Home-Start Richmond, Kingston and Hounslow (Registered charity 1108975)

Home-Start Richmond, Kingston & Hounslow aims to give every child in Richmond the best start in life. The project will strengthen provision for children aged 0 to 5 and their families through weekly home support visits by trained local parent volunteers, term-time weekly play and support groups at the local children centre, and free holiday activity programmes. Activities including reading, play, singing and storytelling will support speech and language development.

Otakar Kraus Music Trust (Registered charity 1178401)

The Otakar Kraus Music Trust provides music therapy for people with learning, physical, neurological or psychological difficulties, to improve their well-being and quality of life though participatory music making. The project will provide early intervention for children aged 0 to 5 who have speech and communication delay. Through group music therapy and focused one-to-one music therapy for those it would most benefit, the project aims to help children develop the skills to engage with others,  play spontaneously, gain confidence and show improved verbal and non-verbal communication skills.

Donations

Anyone in the borough will be able to donate, but we will be writing directly to those residents who live in the highest valued properties (Bands G and H).

You can donate any amount and every donation will make a difference. You can either make a one-off gift or set up a direct debit so you can donate on a regular basis.

Find out more about making a donation.

Charity registration number

The charity registration number is 1186870. Find out more on the Charity Commission website.

Privacy notice

View the Richmond upon Thames Voluntary Fund privacy notice (pdf, 104 KB) for information on how it uses and shares your data.

Contact

If you have a question about the Richmond upon Thames Voluntary Fund, email richmondvoluntaryfund@richmond.gov.uk or call 020 8831 6459.