Hall & Woodhouse (H&W), the leading independent family-owned Dorset brewer, has confirmed its intention to continue with its 2020 Community Chest funding, albeit with some adaptations in recognition of the current times.

H&W has announced its intention to make some of the Community Chest grant funding available immediately. This is in order to prioritise emergency funds to voluntary organisations that have received support in the past two years, that may find themselves in real financial difficulty in the coming months. The remaining Community Chest funds, to be distributed later in the year, will focus on supporting voluntary and charity organisations through their recovery and resilience phase.

In line with this, H&W has announced it will be extending its deadline for applications both for grant funding from the Community Chest and to become a Pub Charity Partner. Local charities and community groups now have until Thursday, April 30 to submit their applications.

Worthy causes can apply online for grants up to £5,000. Application forms can be downloaded via www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/community-chest and then emailed to [email protected] for consideration.

Mark Woodhouse, Hall & Woodhouse Family Director, commented: “In these strange times we feel that it is very important to try to help many of the voluntary organisations that we have supported in the past, to survive and continue their great work in our communities.”

Lucinda Gray, Hall & Woodhouse Company Relationship Manager, added: “The Hall & Woodhouse Community Chest was set up in 2002 to help our local communities and these valuable voluntary and charitable organisations need our support now more than ever, due to the current uncertain times. We are providing anyone who has already made an application with the opportunity to re-submit, as we appreciate priorities may well have changed and what was important a month ago may no longer be relevant in the current circumstances. We are here to serve our communities at times of need, and we are proud to deliver some vital funding to help people navigate this challenging situation.”