Postbag
Community grant sparks an impassioned debate
IN his letter to Postbag of January 10, Mr Jackson, of Porton, expressed his concern about a grant we gave to the Bangladeshi Sports and Social Club in Salisbury.
His concern centred on who we are, where we get our money from and why we gave this particular grant to teach Bangladeshi children their "mother tongue".
The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon is a
registered charity dedicated to strengthening our local communities by encouraging local giving.
Our funds come from donations, mainly from individuals, companies and families who want to reach smaller groups in the county.
We also manage funds on behalf of the government and also organisations like Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund who want to have their funds distributed to grass root causes.
None of our money comes from the Community Charge.
We do not have members, but have a board of fifteen trustees and three grants panels - Salisbury, Central Wiltshire and Swindon - who have in-depth knowledge of the voluntary and charitable organisations in their areas.
The grant given to the Bangladeshi Sports and Social Club came from a central government fund called the Local Network Fund where the aim is to reach the most disadvantaged and marginalised children and young people.
This specific grant was to give Bangladeshi children and young
people access to their Bengali
heritage through a better
understanding of their language.
Understanding the pure form of Bengali will promote a sense of belonging and achievement, and help the children to communicate with the elders in their community.
The Wiltshire Racial Equality Council supported their application.
The application went through the same process as all other applications and we monitor how the money is spent to ensure that they conform to the terms of the grant.
Incidentally, an application from the Chinese Community Association of Wiltshire to do Mandarin classes was assessed at the same time and this was also successful.
Hopefully this will clarify things for Mr Jackson and your other
readers.
If your readers know of other
voluntary groups or charities who are looking for funding for projects in the future, please ask them to
contact The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon on 01380 729284 or by email: info@wscf.org.uk and we will do our best to help.
ROSEMARY MACDONALD, Chief Executive - The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon
I WONDER whether the gentleman who objected to a meagre £4,000 being spent on language classes for Bengali children would feel the same about French or German classes for his own children - I doubt it.
I feel that the Bengali community in Salisbury provides us all with many social, cultural, artistic and culinary opportunities that should not be overlooked.
If we can give something back to their children so that they can feel proud of their culture and enables them to benefit from ours as well, then that can only be for the good of all.
I really hope I do not have to read any more such mean-spirited views published in the Journal.
JANET MAXWELL, Salisbury
THERE'S nothing like a good debate to start 2008 and this is
nothing like a good debate.
In response to Mr Charles Jackson of Porton's letter in which he chooses to air his views about the award that went to Salisbury's Bangladeshi Sport and Social Club, he may well have started something.
I am surprised that the journal printed what I would call blatant racism, but then I suppose it would not oppose freedom of speech.
His letter may have been easier to start "I'm not racist but" because the tone can only be interpreted in that way. It is very disappointing to see that, his "mother tongue" doesn't have the words "charity" or "love thy
neighbour" included.
R WINDSOR, Salisbury
12:48pm Thursday 24th January 2008
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