Growing Community Roots: The Impact of the East Brighton Trust Fund in 2024

With our new grants scheme soon to be announced, here is the 2025 Impact Report – a look back at the difference your support has made across East Brighton.

Since its inception in 2016, the East Brighton Trust Fund has awarded over £344,000 in grants to grassroots projects and not-for-profit groups across Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk, Bates Estate, and surrounding areas. In 2024 alone, £49,937 was granted across 54 local initiatives, planting seeds of change and helping them flourish.

Here’s how these grants translated into real, meaningful difference.

Healing Through Nature

For over 30 years, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden & Wildlife Project has offered a safe, green haven to young people struggling in school and adults with disabilities. Their open day in 2024, funded by East Brighton Trust, brought together 80 people to reconnect with nature and community.

“If I didn’t come here, I would feel more alone,” shared one long-time participant.

Art in the Heart of Moulsecoomb

Brighton Photo Fringe brought creativity to the streets with their outdoor exhibition “When The Seeds Fall”, transforming a dull railway footbridge into a vibrant community gallery. Local schoolchildren learned photography, volunteers got involved in nature, and passers-by smiled more often.

“Builders, commuters and students have all commented on how much they like it,” said Su, the Moulsecoomb Station Manager. Now that’s public art with impact.

Composting for the Future

With a £750 grant, Brighton Permaculture Trust built a compost toilet at Racehill Community Orchard—now used by forest schools, mental health groups, and young families. Volunteers helped design and build it, gaining new skills and confidence in the process.

It’s a great demonstration of permaculture in action and will inspire visitors to the orchard to think about waste and closed-loop systems as solutions.

Building Skills & Confidence

Gladrags Community Costume Resource is much more than a costume library. Their “Revive to Rewear” project empowered fashion students and volunteers with learning disabilities to repair, reuse, and create. One volunteer even walked down Brighton’s first Sustainable Fashion Week runway in her self-made outfit.

Feeding the Community with Dignity

Very Local Food Hubs received £750 to fight food insecurity head-on. Through community food-growing workshops and fresh produce boxes, over 250 residents, including families like K’s, received healthy food during the holidays when food banks were closed.

K, a mother managing financial insecurity, not only fed her family thanks to the food boxes but also blossomed into a volunteer and paid community chef. Her story is a powerful reminder: small grants can create lifelong opportunities.

Beyond the Numbers

Behind the 440 grants and the £344,115 awarded lies something less tangible but more powerful: trust, resilience, and local pride. In a region facing challenges like low school attainment, high absence rates, and growing Special Educational Needs, the East Brighton Trust Fund isn’t just plugging gaps, it’s amplifying the voices of those often unheard.

From pop-up food markets to creative arts, from forest classrooms to community cafés, the Trust is nurturing the roots of a stronger East Brighton.

View the full 2025 Impact Report and see everything funded in 2024:  East Brighton Trust Impact Report 2025

Stay tuned…

Our new grants scheme is just around the corner – keep an eye out for updates on how to apply and get involved.