Sunderland's Foundation of Light set for £240,000 lifeline as it battles challenges from coronavirus

Next week, Sunderland City Council’s ruling cabinet will be asked to award a £240,000 grant to support the official charity of Sunderland AFC. The funds form part of plans to support the charity’s operations at the Beacon of Light and to meet future challenges from coronavirus. Subject to cabinet approval, the cash would be drawn from a £500,000 social recovery reserve helping to support the charity and voluntary sector in the city. The report to cabinet reads: “The council has been involved with the Foundation of Light since its inception, contributing a significant amount to the original construction of the Beacon of Light facility. “The foundation now delivers significant social benefits to the city through its programmes of local sports and education activities. “The proposed additional one-off grant would assist in ensuring the ongoing financial sustainability of the charity, so that it is better able to meet its business plan targets through to August 2021 and the resulting social benefits for the city, as well as having a secure financial standing to meet the challenges arising from Covid-19.” In 2018, the Beacon of Light facility opened offering a range of sports and education activities. The venue is operated by the Foundation of Light charity and aims to engage young people and their families, via football, to deliver personal development activities to enhance skills, motivation and career opportunities. According to cabinet papers, as of February 2020, more than 7,000 people a week were using the centre. The city council previously contributed around £3million towards the circa £20million Beacon of Light in return for “specific use and advertising rights in respect of the facility.” However, documents state that the Foundation of Light had a financial loss in the year ended August 31 2019 and had to rely on its reserves until the end of December. A match-funding campaign was later launched to replenish the reserves and was successful in raising half a million pounds in private donations. Sunderland City Council’s grant aims to support the charity and the ongoing delivery of its social benefit programmes at the Beacon of Light. Due to the size of the contribution, cabinet approval is required to make the grant under relevant legal powers. The cabinet report goes on to say: “An option to provide no additional support has been discounted as the Foundation of Light and its facility are valuable assets which provide major social benefits to the city. “A decision to not provide the requested financial support to the charity would put at risk the delivery of such benefits within Sunderland.” During the Covid-19 pandemic, the city council’s cabinet has begun meeting remotely with meetings live-streamed on the council’s YouTube channel. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16 at 2pm and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_vfdSqAZgQ For more information on the Beacon of Light’s response to Covid-19 and current services, visit: www.foundationoflight.co.uk/beacon-news/covid-19-update A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper. Thank you How to subscribe to the print edition It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.