It was standing room only at our Autumn Connector on 16 September, held in the beautiful surroundings of St Martin-in-the-Fields and generously hosted by Weatherbys Private Bank.

In a little more than two hours, the audience had heard three compelling presentations and raised more than £30,000, with each charity reaching its £10,000 target. Pledges of every size added up to a total few people in the room could have given alone. That is the simple idea The Funding Network was founded on, and it still works.

The three organisations were working on very different issues, but each pitch gave a vivid sense of the challenges their beneficiaries face, the people behind the work and what the funding would make possible.

Gemma Creamer, CEO of Lawyers Who Care

Lawyers Who Care

Drawing on her own experience, Gemma Creamer of Lawyers Who Care spoke about the barriers faced by care-experienced law students trying to build careers in the legal profession, including a lack of confidence, professional contacts, role models, financial resources and the informal knowledge that others can often take for granted.

She shared some sobering statistics. Just 15% of care-experienced young people aged 19-21 are in higher education, compared with 47% of other young people of the same age. As Gemma pointed out, when you meet a care-experienced young person who has made it to university, you are meeting someone who has already overcome considerable odds.

Lawyers Who Care pairs care-experienced law students with legal professionals, providing mentoring, networks and practical support to help them progress into the profession. In just over two years, 122 students have been paired with legal professionals, who have provided more than 1,000 hours of mentoring.

The £10,000 raised will support the organisation's Legal Opportunities Access Grants, helping students meet the practical costs of taking up work experience, an essential part of legal education and of getting a foothold in the profession.

A train fare, somewhere to stay, or even the cost of suitable clothes can be enough to put an opportunity out of reach.

WATCH GEMMA'S PITCH

Billy Knowles, Co-Director of Youth Environmental Service

Youth Environmental Service

Billy Knowles of Youth Environmental Service (YES) brought the organisation's work creating paid, entry-level jobs for young people in the environmental sector to life through the story of Nina.

YES takes inspiration from models such as Teach First and national service programmes overseas, giving young people meaningful work, training and a route into a career. YES applies that thinking to the environmental sector, working with employers to create paid roles alongside the support young people need to succeed.

Nina developed chronic fatigue syndrome at 16, had to leave school and was unable to complete her A-levels. Her route into work was far from straightforward. One of YES's partner organisations, Cotswolds National Landscape, saw her potential and, working with YES, created a role that suited her needs. Nina began part-time, gradually built up her hours and eventually moved into full-time employment. She has since been promoted and is now studying to become an accountant, something she could not have imagined when she first came to YES.

The £10,000 raised at the Connector will give Billy and his small team something small charities rarely have enough of, which is time to step back and think. Like so many small organisations, almost all of YES's resources go into delivering its programme and keeping the organisation running through fundraising, reporting, staff management, governance and all the other work that happens behind the scenes.

The funding will give the team the chance to look carefully at what is working in Bristol and plan how the model might be developed into a national programme.

WATCH BILLY'S PITCH

Mariana Siblesz de Alvarez, Chair of CHAMOS, In Aid of the Children of Venezuela

CHAMOS, In Aid of the Children of Venezuela

Our final pitch came from Mariana Siblesz de Alvarez of CHAMOS, In Aid of the Children of Venezuela.

Mariana spoke about the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June. More than 6,500 people were killed, over 226,000 were injured, and many thousands more were still missing. Mariana told us that more than half of the country's schools were damaged.

She also recalled that the earthquakes struck while families were at home watching Brazil play Scotland in the World Cup. For almost two minutes, the ground shook beneath them. Hearing her describe that ordinary evening made the scale of what happened feel much more immediate.

CHAMOS has worked with children and families in Venezuela for many years, supporting trusted local organisations to improve access to health and education. The £10,000 raised will support its AlfaDigital programme, equipping one classroom with the technology needed to provide digital education and training teachers to deliver the programme themselves.

The funding will provide a computer room with 13 laptops, wiring and furniture, alongside teacher training and a curriculum covering digital foundations, digital citizenship, AI and the responsible use of digital tools.

One classroom can reach around 90-105 children directly each year, with an estimated 500 further indirect beneficiaries.

WATCH MARIANA'S PITCH

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who joined us, pledged and asked questions, and to Weatherbys Private Bank for so generously hosting the evening. Most of all, thank you to Gemma, Billy and Mariana for sharing the work of their organisations and the people they support.

The funding is only part of what the room can offer. If you have skills, contacts or opportunities that could help any of these charities, such as work experience for Lawyers Who Care students or an entry-level role for a YES participant, please get in touch and we will make the introduction. We will also report back on how the funding has been used, so you can see what your pledge made possible.

If you would like to see the slides containing the key points from each presentation, you can do so by following this link.

Our next Connector is the Festive Connector on Wednesday 2 December. If you have never been, you are welcome to come and simply listen.