Disability Today, a Surrey-based community programme which provides the disabled community with access to news products, services and organisations tailored for their needs, has received £5,000 of matched funding from Santander’s innovative Changemaker Fund.
The Fund is part of a pioneering collaboration between Santander and rewards-based crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder. The programme is designed to help social enterprises, small charities and community groups deliver projects that improve communities and help disadvantaged people to have confidence in the future.
Disability Today is a website that delivers real time, local, national and international news relevant to the disabled community, and all in one place. It covers a wide range of topics from research, education, sport, leisure and travel. Readers can also search for medical topics of interest. It provides opportunities, news and information to people with disabilities, who can sometimes be isolated from mainstream communication or be unaware of the services and support available to them. The organisation’s goal is to have a positive effect on the lives of the disabled community, give them the information and news that is targeted and relevant to them, and bring the community together by providing it with the facilities to read about and communicate with the world around them.
The funding will allow Disability Today to improve its site and services, helping the enterprise achieve its goal of having disabled journalists blog on the site and provide charities and organisations with the chance to share their messages with a wider audience. The money will also provide support for individuals who want to become reporters and help them attend local events.
Sue Douthwaite, Managing Director of Santander Business Banking, commented: “We aim to help communities around the UK flourish and access to information that’s specifically tailored to their needs is something that everyone should enjoy. Disability Today’s website shares diverse messages of relevance to a disabled audience and we are delighted to be able to help the organisation expand and develop.”
Grant Logan, Founder of Disability Today, commented: “This much-needed funding will help us continue to provide the disabled community with an essential platform of information. The internet and social media enable us to live better well-connected lives and we want to extend that to all communities.”
The £200,000 Changemaker Fund, www.crowdfunder.co.uk/changemaker, is part of Santander’s flagship community programme, The Discovery Project, which aims to inspire people to have confidence in the future through projects that build skills, grow knowledge and support innovation.
By working together with Crowdfunder, Santander aims to enable entrepreneurs and community groups to tackle social challenges and create positive local impact. Eligible projects seeking funding of up to £20,0001 and focussed on skills, knowledge and innovation that get the crowd’s backing will receive 50 per cent of their funding requirement from Santander to ensure the enterprise reaches its target.
As well as access to the £200,000 matched funding from Santander, projects will benefit from crowdfunding team specialists with education, enterprise and coaching support to unlock further funds and create lasting impacts in communities across the UK.
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Notes to Editors
1 Under exceptional circumstances, enterprises could be eligible for projects up to £40,000 with 50 per cent of their funding requirement from Santander.
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 December 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 806 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas, and is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization. At the end of 2017, Banco Santander had EUR 986 billion in customer funds (deposits and mutual funds), 133 million customers, 13,700 branches and 200,000 employees. Banco Santander made attributable profit of EUR 6,619 million in 2017, an increase of 7% compared to the previous year.
About Disability Today
Disability Today aims to deliver real time, local, national and international news. It covers a wide range of topics from research, education, sport, leisure and travel – all relevant to the disabled community, and all in one place. It features news from disabled charities, organisations and other news outlets, helping them reach a wider audience by directing traffic back to their websites and articles.
The aim of the website is to have a positive effect on the lives of the disabled community, give them the information and news that is targeted and relevant to them, and include a community that is often forgotten.
Media Enquiries
Leonora Burtenshaw T: 020 7756 4543 M: 07701 004 107 E: leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk
The press office operates from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Outside of these hours please call 0800 5877708.