Chamber Charity

Giving back to the local community

Hertfordshire Community Foundation

(HCF) is an independent charity which encourages philanthropy and supports local causes that matter. Recently HCF was named as Herts Chamber’s charity partner of the year, as Foundation Director Helen Gray explains…

What does Herts Community Foundation do?

We’re a registered charity that provides grant support to small grassroots organisations here in Hertfordshire, helping to tackle a broad range of social needs ranging from domestic violence to child poverty. We support the sorts of groups that operate in your community but you may not know they’re there until you need to access support from them. Whether you have a teenage child with mental health problems or a parent suffering with dementia, there’ll be a local organisation that can support you during these challenging times. These are the sorts of groups we seek to support because they provide a lifeline to so many. We do this by providing philanthropy advice to local people and businesses looking to give something back to their local communities.

Some businesses wish to set up monthly donations while others set up named endowment funds. An endowment fund can be built up over a number of years and enables a company to award grants from their fund on an annual basis in perpetuity. HCF takes care of all the due diligence, enabling the business to focus on its core work. HCF currently manages more than 100 endowment funds including corporate funds for Britvic, Myers Clark, Affinity Water, Cereal Partners, PwC and Harpenden Building Society.

What is the Foundation’s relationship with the Chamber? What benefits do you get from it?

HCF has been a member of the Chamber for the past four years and we’ve benefited hugely. We were recently named as the Chamber’s charity partner of the year and we’re hugely grateful for this. The opportunity to meet local businesses and professional advisors is also hugely valued. HCF has a key role to play in supporting the local business community as environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are becoming increasingly urgent matters to address in a strategic way.

Recovery Group

What benefits do you provide the Chamber and its members?

Whether members want to implement a CSR strategy in their company, develop an approach to ESG or are looking to align their business to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, HCF has the local expertise to support them.

HCF has a key role to play in supporting the local business community as environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are becoming increasingly urgent matters to address in a strategic way.