Bluestar Community Fund - applications now closed.
At Bluestar, we’re proud to support our local community, and as a company we understand that to make things happen, local groups and charities need our support.
Every month, we were approached by many organisations in the community asking for help or donations towards their local efforts, and we dealt with these requests in a very ad-hoc manner, with the result differing dramatically depending on who got the call, question or email.
So we launched our Community Fund to be a dedicated resource for supporting local causes, charities and organisations, whether it is monetary support, marketing help, free travel or the use of a bus for an event required.
How does it work?
It's open for applications from everyone all year round, whether you’re a charity, a sports team, a school, or one of the local events that makes our city a vibrant place to live - with our funding or support donated to successful applicants during two months of the year – January and July, so please bear this in mind when applying.
For each of the these months we have £500 to donate to share among the many worthy causes, as well as support in kind. We encourage anyone who needs a helping hand, however big or small, to apply.
Community Funding will be allocated to worthy causes by a 'judging' panel including our local management team. Successful applicants will be contacted, while those not successful are welcome to apply for the next set of funding available.
The Community Fund is a Go South Coast initiative, with all six bus operators opening applications, and is on top of our commitment to our official charity of the year.
By applying for the community fund, applicants must agree and acknowledge that Bluestar must be given the opportunity to take a press photograph at the applicant's premises/with their cause/group in order to issue a press release that they will be obliged to provide a comment for. They agree that this will be used on the Bluestar website and social media channels.
Who did we support in 2023?
Sunday Lunch Project
As part of the January round, we donated a Sunday Lunch's worth of food for a large group, a helping hand, and £180 to the Sunday Lunch Project to help give those in need a hot meal and a place to go on a Sunday. Some guests may have temporarily fallen on difficult times, whilst others are in need of support and company - they receive a free meal with no booking, referral or name required.
Baby Necessities
Baby Necessities were the second cause to receive our support in the January round. We donated £250 worth of baby products to the cause and Baby Necessities do a wonderful job helping local families. The aim of the group is to alleviate child poverty in the area by providing new and good quality pre-owned clothes and equipment.
Velmore Community Centre
We donated £400 to Velmore Community Centre in the July round to help them join the "Chatter & Natter" scheme to help them achieve their goal of social inclusion for all. They have a cafe, run by staff and volunteers, and is a hub for the area - providing community activities, exercise groups, as well as being a safe place to meet and make friends.
The Veracity Fun Day in support of Sholing PCC
We sent one of our buses to a celebration and fun day at the Veracity Recreation Ground in Sholing to give people a chance to jump on-board and meet one of our drivers. The day was a huge success - a great community celebration. Our lovely driver Hayley did this on a voluntary basis, so we also donated £100 to a charity of their choice to further show our support!
How to Apply
You just need to tell us who you are, about your cause, what you need from us, and the difference this support would make to you.
Whether your request is for a raffle prize or a new sports team kit, our panel will take all serious applications into consideration. Please go into as much detail as you can about your cause and how we can help to make a difference.
We hope that the Community Fund application process will offer a fairer support process and see new individuals and groups coming forward who may not have wanted to ask for help previously.