Brewery and hospitality business announces 20 winners of 2024 Hall & Woodhouse Community Chest Awards

The annual awards are run in the eastern area with the support of Sussex World and its weekly newspapers across East and West Sussex, and they have been since their inception more than 20 years ago.

Hall & Woodhouse, known for its award-winning Badger ales, established the awards in 2002, offering an annual fund of £60,000 to provide help for local communities in the south of England trading area.

The brewery was founded in Ansty, near Blandford in Dorset, in 1777 and goes back seven generations. Mark Woodhouse, the family director who created the initiative, said the aim was to provide long-term help for local people.

Speaking at the awards evening at The Black Rabbit in Offham on Friday, January 10, Mr Woodhouse said: "We exist to make people's day and enrich our communities from generation to generation. Making people's day is what we are all about. We want to enrich people's communities at the same time because without the help and support of local communities, I don't believe that any business can survive."

The family business has set a goal to provide £1million in funds for local communities each year by 2027. The 2024 total was around £800,000, including support for Teddy Rocks in Dorset.

Mr Woodhouse added: "We are very much a values-led business and we want to be cherished by our team and cherished by those communities."

With a drinks business and hospitality business operating from Kent to Cornwall, he pointed out that pubs were the focal point of the community and so were the awards.

Over the past 23 years, nearly 11,000 applications have been processed and £883,000 has been handed out in 980 communities to volunteer-led local charities that demonstrate real local need.

Award judges presented cheques to representatives from the winners in the eastern area and a buffet was provided to give the volunteers an opportunity to network and share ideas.

Arun Youth Aqua Centre, which teaches young people to sail dinghies in the sea at Littlehampton, received £1,009 to purchase new sails and protective boat covers.

Blueprint Youth UK, which works with marginalised and disadvantage young people from Brighton to Bognor Regis, received £2,500 to provide one-to-one coaching support.

Chichester & Arun Down Syndrome Group, which supports young people, received £1,500 to fund speech and language therapy costs.

Children’s BookFest, which takes authors into schools and provides a new book for every child at each visit, as well as supporting Bognor Regis Foodbank, received £1,000 towards books for the Bognor festival in February.

Dementia Active Sussex, a weekly group in the Horsham area, received £1,000 for the services of a qualified fitness instructor.

Final Straw Foundation, an environmental charity in Emsworth, received £2,000 to purchase specialist equipment to instantly identify plastic items, either on beach cleans or in an educational facility.

Grandads Front Room, which supports people in the Arun district and Chichester, received £2,500 to help fund a warm space in the winter and a People’s Pantry to provide food and personal hygiene items.

Headroom Young People’s Charity in Aldershot received £2,500 for salary costs to provide therapeutic support sessions for young people who are suffering poor mental health.

Hub4Stuff, which saves furniture and household goods from landfill and passes them on to low-income people in Fareham and Gosport, received £1,452 towards running costs of the van used for collection and distribution of items.

Littlehampton Shopmobility requested a grant towards running costs and received £1,500 to help provide services and advice about disability aids, as well as hiring out scooters, wheelchairs and walkers to maintain people's independence.

Locksheath Pumas RFC in Fareham has recently moved to a new training site and received £1,800 to buy new kit and storage.

Menshare Listening Group in Crawley received £1,250 for workshops to help men find employment and improve their wellbeing.

Olive Tree Cancer Support Group, which supports people living with a cancer diagnosis in Crawley and Horsham, received £2,000 towards providing therapeutic care.

The Parish of Hampden Park and the Hydneye youth group, which started in February 2024 after three local YMCA groups closed, received £1,000 towards activity costs.

Pippa’s Group nursery in Lewes received £689 to purchase equipment for its Forest School, which supports children in need.

Pulborough and District Community Care Association received £800 for the start-up costs of a new scheme to teach basic cooking skills to local residents who need cooking skills, having never cooked for themselves in the past.

St Vincent De Paul Society, operating from St Michael’s Church in Worthing, received £2,000 to purchase white goods for families who are unable to source them themselves.

Tuppenny Barn Education, an organic smallholding in Southbourne which uses gardening to improve and stabilise mental health for young people and adults, received £2,000 towards salary costs for a social and therapeutic horticulture practitioner and supporting staff.

Vision 4 Youth, which provides youth clubs and services for young people aged in the Yateley area, received £1,500 to support a Friday Night Club for 11 to 18-year-olds.

Young People’s Shop, which offers free counselling for young people in Chichester, received £1,500 to provide immediate drop-in emotional support sessions.