London City Airport (LCY) has awarded £35,683 (US$46,926) of funding to 13 local groups from its £75,000 (US$98,000) community fund.
Each organization has been awarded a grant of up to £3,000 (US$3,900) in line with the fund’s aims to build safer and healthier communities. The grants are expected to provide a financial boost to local organizations working to support marginalized communities affected by the pandemic, covering employment and training for youth, women and refugees; well-being, physical and mental health; and food poverty and sustainability. The local groups cover seven East London boroughs: Newham, Hackney, Lewisham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, and Barking and Dagenham.
One of the organizations receiving a grant was the Breaking Barriers charity, which works with refugees across East London boroughs, supporting them back into employment through training and development. Food poverty organization Bags of Taste also secured funding for its efforts to help people in Hackney purchase and cook healthy meals on a budget.
Another recipient was the Teen Action charity in Hackney, which is working to improve the lives of disadvantaged young women and help them reach their potential. Another winner was the Inspire Education Business Partnership (EBP) charity, which will use the funds to run a specialist employability program for students with special educational and mental health needs (SEMH) at Belmont Park School, London.
These grants come during the airport’s fourth consecutive busiest week of passengers since the start of the pandemic, with passenger growth having increased by 40% since February 2022. In particular, the easing of travel restrictions for passengers arriving in the UK has led to an increase in business travel, which is now up to 2019 levels and represents 46% of passenger journeys. Furthermore, the British Airways (BA) CityFlyer has resumed 20 of the 25 routes that it operated in 2019. Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) will also begin flights from LCY to Milan Linate on March 28. In total, the airport predicts that it will reach 80% of 2019 destinations this summer.
Anne Doyere, head of aviation at LCY, said, “The UK government’s removal of all remaining travel restrictions, including the complicated passenger locator form and all testing requirements, is hugely welcome news for our passengers and will make travel easier again. This will help businesses get moving, boosting consumer confidence in travel ahead of Easter and summer, where LCY will be connecting to 36 destinations across Europe and the UK.”