Changing Lives: How Angels’ Den Brighton Is Powering Local Charities to Make a Difference

TEN Sussex charities have received their share of over £100,000 after a spectacular Angels’ Den event at the Brighton i360 organised by Focus Foundation.

Their inspiring pitches were made in front of an audience of 200 people, including the Mayor, Amanda Grimshaw, and Deputy Lieutenant, Michael Bedingfield. Also present at the i360 were the Patrons of Focus Foundation Anita Dobson and Andrew Bernardi.

Brighton Table Tennis Club won the biggest share – a whopping £25,000 – after each charity had pitched their projects to the five Angels.

Tim Holtam, its co-founder and director, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded such a large amount. We have so many amazing junior coaches at the Brighton Table Tennis Club, and now we can really invest in their training to bring the sport to every school in the city. This really will help to change lives.”

The Children’s Respite Trust – based in Uckfield – received the second largest amount, £17,500, and then secured a further £13,440 in an extra award based purely on votes from the audience and match funding from Pebble Trust and Focus Foundation. This will enable the Trust to build a sanctuary and provide 2000 extra hours of care.

Chris Goodman, co-founder and trustee of Focus Foundation, said: “The purpose of the Foundation is to connect communities allowing grassroots charities to thrive, and our first ever Angels’ Den was a perfect example of that.

“It was a spectacular showcase featuring some incredible local charities, and I know that the money will make a huge difference to their work across Sussex.

“It was a very proud evening for the outstanding team at the Foundation, and we look forward to similar initiatives where we can make a real difference to people’s lives.”

Each charity was given two minutes to outline to the Angels what it would spend the money on, followed by questions from the expert panel.

Four charities were each awarded £5,000:

MindOut mental health charity for the LGBTQ community
Springboard
Sussex Nightstop
WOLO Foundation.

The Angels awarded £7,500 to Pelican Parcels, £8750 each to The Launchpad Collective and The Real Junk Food Project Brighton, and £12,500 to Grassroots Suicide Prevention.

The Angels were:

Chris Goodman, who co-founded Focus Group back in 2003 and later co-founded Focus Foundation
Rob Starr MBE, who founded Seico Mortgages and later The Starr Trust
Sarah Willingham, the owner of the iconic i360, The Nightcap Group and an investor on Dragon’s Den
Nazila Blencowe, the founder of Baron Homes Corporation
Martin Gallagher, CEO of The Clare Foundation.

Sponsors of the evening were: Seico Mortgages, E3 Events, Galloways Accountancy, Cognitive Law, The Marcus Tomlinson Consultancy, The Clare Foundation, Action Funder and the Brighton i360.

Chris said: “I want to pay tribute to all ten charities who took part. It really was a moving evening where so many heartwarming stories were told.

“Focus Foundation will continue to move forward in the coming months with new and exciting announcements. We can’t wait.”

To find out more, go to focusfoundation.org.uk

Written by Peter Lindsey