Hall & Woodhouse launches Community Chest 2025, with £60,000 available to volunteer-led charities in Sussex and Dorset

The awards were established in 2002 to provide help for local communities in and around Dorset, where the family business is based, and across Sussex.

In the eastern area, the awards are run 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.

Applications are invited for between £300 and £3,000 and the award winners will receive their cheques at presentation ceremonies in January 2026.

Mark Woodhouse, the family director who created the initiative, said: "Its purpose is very much to help people in the local community. It is about offering funds to organisations who help people. So much can be done with hard work but at the end of the day, some cash is required.

"The Community Chest has assisted many worthy organisations and what it has done is brought us closer to our communities."

In a live launch broadcast on Tuesday, May 13, Anthony Woodhouse, chairman, explained the company's history and spoke about its values.

The brewery was founded in Ansty, near Blandford in Dorset, in 1777 and is now run by the seventh and eighth generations. The company was incorporated on June 8, 1898, and that Founder's Day is celebrated annually.

Anthony said: "We reflect on our history and we learn lessons from our history, so we can apply them and plan for the future. We are here merely to act as stewards down through the generations, holding the company to its purpose and its values.

"What we are really about is the broader H&W family. We strive to be cherished by our team and by our communities. We exist to make people's day and enrich our communities from generation to generation.

"We feel that it is absolutely vital that we give back directly to the communities. We have set ourselves a target of donating and raising £1million a year."

Community Chest grants have supported a wide range of projects in the company's trading area, including food banks, dementia choirs, sports clubs, village halls and education.

The total given out by the end of 2024 was £855,000, including £60,000 in Community Chest awards. It is hoped that £1million can be achieved by 2027, the company's 250th anniversary.

Applications are open to organisations with a total income of less than £200,000. Visit www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/about-us/community-chest for more information. The closing date is July 11 and the main judging will take place in September and October.