Genesis Community and Pathmeads, subsidiaries of Genesis Housing Group, hosted an awards ceremony to celebrate the success of Hackney community groups that have been awarded funding from the Pathmeads Community Chest. A total of £33,654.23 has been awarded to community groups in Hackney over the past year.

The Community Chest grants are given to small voluntary groups and organisations working within the local Hackney community. Funding can range from £500 to £2,000.

The celebration evening included presentations from two community groups supported by recent grants:

Balik Arts provide drama classes for young people from Turkish/Kurdish backgrounds living in Hackney. A group of young people attended the ceremony and gave short performance highlighting simple proverbs from folk law.

Milton Gardens, a local residents association, presented an introduction into the various community projects they have set up including free lunches for older people; Monday night bingo; line dancing and a youth club.

Vitolina Samu, Community Chest Co-ordinator for Genesis Community, summed up the project, "The Community Chest project is a vital part of our work. We work in partnership with various other voluntary & community groups throughout London but it's good for us to support local projects and help them to work effectively. Community Chest is not only about funding, it's also about providing support mechanisms (advice surgeries, monitoring workshops) to aide community groups at grass-roots level achieve their community initiatives."

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Genesis Community was launched by Genesis Housing Group in 2005, was set up as a charitable foundation to specifically tackle the challenges of deprivation and social exclusion in the most disadvantaged areas. Genesis has always been strong on community development and regeneration. Through Genesis Community, even more projects can target vulnerable people and hard-to-reach groups. New initiatives for financial inclusion, safer communities, training and employment will foster hope and positive change.