UCLan partners with Community Foundation for Lancashire

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has established an official partnership with Community Foundation for Lancashire to develop a number of projects designed to benefit the region.

Launched in 2007, Community Foundation for Lancashire works with individuals, families, companies, charitable trusts, public sector bodies and organisations to invest in local grassroots charities.

UCLan is the first University in Lancashire to form an official partnership with the Community Foundation, which has already distributed in excess of £17.5 million to charities and community groups in Lancashire.

The partnership will allow students to gain work experience with local charities and for academics to lend their expertise to a number of research initiatives, such as mapping the voluntary and community sector in Lancashire and bringing together the local business community to participate in joint funding bids and other projects.

Professor StJohn Crean, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at UCLan, said: “We are delighted to work with Community Foundation for Lancashire and excited to see the potential opportunities and benefits it will bring to our own students and the wider community. Being a civic university that puts the economy and quality of life in the local community is a key priority for UCLan and this partnership sits very much at the heart of this commitment.”

Karen Morris, Development Director and Deputy CEO, Community Foundation for Lancashire and Merseyside, said: “We very much look forward to working in partnership with UCLan. As a vibrant community in its own right, with a network of academics, employers and students, UCLan is strongly positioned to help us raise our profile and level of engagement across the region. Working together, we can be a real catalyst for continued economic growth and social change, making a real difference to the lives of individuals within our communities.

“We warmly welcome them as a member of Lancashire Investors in Community, a collaboration of businesses and organisations who share a desire to see communities in Lancashire thrive.”