The Trust

Over the last eighteen months the Blunt Trust has approved and supported eight bids for funding in the following areas:

EDUCATION

Upwell Academy. A new IT system for the school Library to encourage children to read more books. Linked to this are two annual prizes for reading, one for the Upper School and one for the Lower School.

Secondary Education. The trust approved an application for three years assistance towards School Fees and Music Tuition for a pupil attending Ely Cathedral School on a Choristers Scholarship.

Higher Education. Assisting in the purchase of a laptop and books for a student studying for a nursing degree. The Trust also added an agreed standard maintenance grant which can, on application, be provided for two more years.

Higher Education. Assisting in the purchase of a MacBook for a student studying a BA in Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art in Cambridge. The Trust also added an agreed standard maintenance which can, on application, be provided for two more years.

SPORT

Upwell Bowls Club. The Trust supported an application from Upwell Bowls Club for the purchase of a specialised mower for the upkeep of the bowling green.

Upwell Playing Field. After consideration the Trust supported a bid from Upwell Playing Field to allow for the completion of the changing rooms and showers in the Pavilion, the creation of a tarmac surface for the parking area, the provision of disabled parking spaces as well as improving drainage in front of the pavilion.

HEALTH

The Trust supported the application from a retired parishioner for a Mobility Scooter. Medical evidence was provided and the applicant sourced a reconditioned model.

GENERAL

The trust offered to provide £2000 towards the Village’s 75th anniversary of VE Day celebrations. This sum would have covered a commemorative magazine, a children’s street party and a senior citizen’s tea. Due to COVID and lockdown restrictions this money was returned to the Trust.

The Blunt Family Trust Annual General Meeting will be held in Upwell Village Hall on Wednesday 18th September 2024 commencing at 7pm. Anyone from the village of Upwell is welcome to attend.

AMAZON SMILE

Do you want to help make a difference while you shop in the Amazon Shopping app on your mobile phone? You can now use the app and simply select The Blunt Family Charity as your favourite charity and your donation at no cost helps the Trust.

 

Simply follow the instructions below to select The Blunt Family Charity as your charity and activate Amazon Smile in the app. Amazon will donate a portion of your eligible mobile app purchases to the Trust.

How it works: Open the Amazon app on your phone

  1. Select the main menu (=) and tap on ‘Amazon Smile’ within programmes and features
  2. Select The Blunt Family Charity as your charity
  3. Then follow the on-screen instructions to activate AmazonSmile in the mobile app

20th July 2021

SUMMER UPDATE

It has been a quiet few months for the Blunt Trust but we have received several enquiries about potential grants and one educational support grant application has been received, the local scout group are also being encouraged to apply for support following their initial approach.

The big news of the moment is we now have an active web page:

www.theblunttrust.com

Please type this address into your browser and have a look, it looks best on a screen larger that on your phone. The site has information about the trust, the Nature Walk through the orchard and how to apply for grants. Please remember the Trust is only for those people who live in Upwell.

We have registered the charity with Amazon Smile. Anyone who uses Amazon can go to the Amazon Smile interface and register a charity which will receive a donation form Amazon whenever you spend money on the site. If you haven’t already registered to support a charity on the site and would like to support the trust to help us maintain the Nature Walk why not go to the Smile page and register. On the Amazon system it is called “The Blunt Family Charity”. Whenever you buy anything on Amazon, provided you access the online retailer through the Smile page, a small contribution will come our way at no cost to you.

The Nature Walk is looking much greener and we would be much more advanced with the facilities we want to install if it wasn’t for the supply problems we have encountered with various materials. We have started putting gate furniture on the gates at either end and we are about to construct our educational centre in the orchard. This will be a three-sided building with display boards inside and an area for children to sit and learn. We will be encouraging local schools and playgroups to use the nature walk and educational centre to help teach local children about nature, ecology and perhaps a little local history.

There are two picnic tables which we hope to have installed this summer too. The raised bank around the hollow we use for burning has been seeded and it now has a good growth of grass and wild flowers, we hope the area will look really colourful in the not too distant future.

We will be having our first AGM later this year, Covid restrictions allowing. Tony Davies’ term as a Trustee finishes this year and he has indicated he will not be seeking re-election. Haidee Norman has also decided to step down due to the pressure of work not allowing her to commit the time to the trust that she would like. There will therefore be two vacant Trustee posts that need to be filled.

If you are interested in becoming a Trustee please email us on  bluntfamilytrust2019@gmail.com or pop a letter through my door at 116 Town Street. 

If you have applied before please don’t let that put you off applying again.

The Blunt Family Nature walk is proving a very popular amenity for the village and we will welcome anyone who wishes to become a trustee to help develop it and help support people and organisations in our community.

Dr Paul Williams