Trick question

Which is more valuable – a cheque for ￡100, or a cheque for ￡25,000? 

We’ve been very grateful to receive both last week. 

The first was a donation from the Sir James Knott Trust and the second was from Willington Disabled Club.  

Both wanted to support us as we support our communities through Coronavirus by funding the emergency help offered by local groups.  

So the answer, for me, is that they are both equally precious. 

Because both gave as much as they could – and they trusted us to make their money count.  

Which brings me to another, seemingly unrelated, occurrence.  

I was looking over an application from one of our groups, and I went back and asked some questions.  

It upset them, and I understood. They are doing their best right now (as we all are) and to feel scrutinised can make people feel defensive. 

I was sorry I'd upset them; but I won’t stop asking questions. Each application that we fund means another may be pushed out.  

We’ve now been able to award more than ￡750k to over 175 groups. The money has come from our own Crowdfunder campaign, and an appeal by the National Emergencies Trust, which has raised more than ￡40million so far.  

The hard part is that we cannot award to every group, but that is when I am really proud of the expertise of our team and our panels. It’s a tough job sometimes and they are good at it. In doing so they safeguard the future of hundreds of groups every year.  

So we do ask questions, and we do need answers, which brings this post full circle. 

We owe it to our supporters. They trust us, and we take that very seriously. The donation amount is inconsequential – the relationship is everything.