News6 November 2025

Local charities receive more than £50,000 through Clarion’s Merton Community Panel

Funding has been awarded to organisations including FROG Learning CIC who will use the grant to extend delivery of their gardening project for young people.

Clarion Housing Group has announced that it has awarded more than £53,400 in funding to ten organisations supporting local people through its Merton Community Panel.

Managed by Clarion’s charitable foundation, Clarion Futures, since 2019 the Merton Community Panel has awarded around £450,000 to partners to improve local spaces, invest in community projects and enhance the lives of residents.

The Panel comprises four local residents alongside Deputy Mayor of Merton, Cllr Shuile Syeda, and Cllr Klaar Dresselaers. Organisations working in the borough have been awarded grants to help fund projects with a particular focus on initiatives that provide opportunities for care leavers, looked after children and carers, tackle violence affecting women and girls, and help reduce loneliness and isolation.

In this latest round of investment, funding has been awarded to organisations including FROG Learning CIC who will use the grant to extend delivery of their gardening project for young people aged 16-25 with special educational needs and disabilities, and introduce volunteering opportunities to improve green spaces.

Another recipient is Dons Local Action Group which is a community of volunteers supporting people facing severe financial hardship across south west London. The grant will contribute towards core costs associated with food parcel collection and delivery and a new service offering cookware and cooking appliances.

Funding has also been awarded to Voicebox CIC, an organisation working with young people to redefine healthy masculinity through interactive workshops and assemblies in schools. This funding will enable the organisation to build on their partnership with Harris Academy Morden and Merton College, providing training to teaching staff. These sessions will equip teachers with the knowledge, tools, resources, and strategies to support boys to thrive, promote healthy masculinity, and address unhealthy behaviours.

Better Leisure (Canons Leisure Centre, Mitcham) in partnership with London Borough of Merton’s Care Leaver team (£3,118 in funding received) – extend delivery of a project providing free gym membership with personal training and ongoing support from London Borough of Merton’s Care Leaver team.
Polka Theatre (£5,000 in funding received) – year two of three funding the Polka Young Actors project.
Dons Local Action Group (£5,000 in funding received) – contribution towards core costs associated with food parcel collection and delivery and a new service offering cookware and cooking appliances.
Mitcham Town Community Trust (£10,000 in funding received) – contribution towards costs associated with the provision of a healthy breakfast for primary school children at eight schools within the Mitcham Town Schools Cluster.
Mitcham Town Community Trust (£10,000 in funding received) – contribution towards costs associated with the provision of a healthy breakfast for primary school children at eight schools within the Mitcham Town Schools Cluster.
Mitcham Town Community Trust, Green Arts Centre (£4,950 in funding received) – extend delivery of afterschool theatre arts project at Cricket Green School / Green Arts Centre for a further year plus provision of a SEND teacher.
Voicebox in partnership with Harris Academy Morden and Merton College (£3,750 in funding received) – expand the delivery of Voicebox healthy masculinity training to teaching staff at Merton schools.
London Parkour Project (£6,450 in funding received) – extend delivery of this project across a full school year at SS Peter & Paul RC Primary School and expand delivery from years 5 and 6 to include years 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Phipps Bridge Youth Project (£6,750 in funding received) – extend delivery of the project for a further academic year.
Merton Music Foundation (£3,500 in funding received) – to create and provide support for a young people with SEND Ensemble Choir leading towards a performance at The Royal Albert Hall in 2026.
Frog Learning CIC (£4,958 in funding received) – extend delivery of the gardening project for SEND young people aged 16-25 and introduce volunteering opportunities to improve green spaces.

Matt Parsonage, Head of Communities at Clarion Futures, said:

“Through our major regeneration project, we’re not only building new affordable homes in Merton but also investing in the community, helping to provide opportunities for local people."

“It’s important to us that decisions around funding are made by people who call the borough home, and that’s what makes our Merton Community Panel so powerful. We’re delighted to be supporting these fantastic organisations who make such an important contribution to the community, helping both local people and the borough to thrive.”

David Coughlin, Director at FROG Learning CIC, said:

“The support we've received from the Merton Community Panel and Clarion Futures has been vital for FROG Learning at each stage of our growth, helping us to provide thousands of hours of free outdoor learning from our very first sessions four years ago. This grant will help us with an exciting new phase, venturing out from our site at Farm Road to improve public green spaces in our local community.”

To find out about the funding available to support organisations working in Clarion communities, visit myclarionhousing.com/community-grants.

Local charities receive more than £50,000 through Clarion’s Merton Community Panel

Full list of successful projects