Charities came together at a popular shopping centre earlier this month to celebrate their funding achievements.

Eighteen charities gathered at Bicester Village for a champagne reception earlier this month to celebrate receiving an award from this year’s Make a Difference Fund.

Bicester Baby Bank, Nai’s House and Bicester Pride were among the charities awarded up to £4,000 each to support the work they do in the Bicester community.

Christina Riley from Bicester Pride, present at the awards, said: “We would like to thank Bicester Village for their kind donation through the Make a Difference Fund.

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“This donation will ensure Pride in Bicester continues going forward, in supporting LGBTQ+ people and families from Bicester and surrounding villages.”

The 2022 fund awarded a total of £32,000 with the judging panel looking for projects that add value to the Bicester community and that focus on one of three themes.

Supporting women and children, togetherness and healthy living.

The successful applicants cover a broad and diverse range of causes which go out of their way to meet the needs of people of all ages including mental wellbeing programmes, and special sports and educational charities.

Bicester Village Community Manager Lucy Busby said: “The Make a Difference Fund complements our ongoing community programme and is a great way to support initiatives we may never have known about.

“Each year we are humbled by the amazing work our local charities do and it is a privilege to be able to thank the wonderful people who really do make a difference in our town.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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