Our Charity

The community have chosen The Windsor Homeless Project as our Community Charity for 2025.

The Windsor Homeless Project provide a drop-in centre four days a week at Alma Beacon on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays between 10.30 am and 14.00 pm and Saturdays 11.00 and 13.30 pm. Our guests are welcomed with a hot meal, with warmth, with friendship, and practical help. They can shower, have their laundry done, get clothing, and receive help and advice.

Our approach starts with registration, getting to know our new guest, and their individual needs, and building trust. Compassion and a listening ear are often the starting points that gives guests the confidence to share their problems and seek our help to move forward.

We aim to solve any immediate issues straight away, such as helping our guests access the NHS, Universal Credit, a phone or the internet. Then we’ll work together to build a plan, starting the journey towards being housed and fully supported into a sustainable, fulfilling, settled lifestyle.

On hearing the news, Manager Carron Edgell said:

See more at The Windsor Homeless Project website.

We were delighted to support The King George V1 Day Centre, a community based lunch and social club based in the very heart of Windsor. Their aim was to give senior members of our town somewhere to socialise, meet friends, have a nutritious lunch. The centre offers a positive experience for members through a combination of them being occupied, having companionship, and developing good relationships with staff and volunteers. This positive experience improves quality of life and wellbeing.

From the sponsor who put them forward:

See more at Day Centre's website.

We were pleased to have Swan Support as our chosen local charity for 2023. Chosen by you - the local community. We spoke to Wendy Hermon, the Treatment & Rescue Centre Co-ordinator at Swan Support. She told us:

Here is Wendy Hermon of Swan Support with Friend of The Swan and Coffee & Cake guru, Richard Douglas. Over the year, we raised £2,011.10 for Swan Support. Thanks to all those involved.

More About Swan Support

Swan Support is a charity that rescues and rehabilitates sick and injured swans within the Thames Valley and surrounding areas.

They operate 24/7, run entirely by volunteers and are solely reliant on public donations. They have over 50 years combined experience in rescuing and treating swans and as such are regularly called upon to advise and support other organisations and charities such as the RSPCA. As a result of our expertise, they now receive calls from as far away as Portsmouth, Devizes, Milton Keynes, Essex and occasionally into London/Home Counties to assist in difficult rescues, often requiring a canoe.

In 2021, they attended in the region 1,500 rescues, ranging from tackled swans, to territorial fights, dog attacks, shootings, abandoned cygnets and crash-landings; we saw this number increase across 2022 as well as managing the recent outbreak of Avian Flu in the area to help minimise the spread.

Wherever possible, they deal with the situation on site as this is the optimum outcome for the bird. However, if required, the swan will be admitted to their treatment centre for rehabilitation and whenever possible they release the swans back to their original location if it is safe to do so.

During 2022 we were very pleased to support Family Friends throughout the year. From coffee mornings and other activities, we raised £1,453.43 towards their very worthy cause. We wish them continued success and thank them for their kind words.

Family Friends provide short term support to families who are facing difficult times and enable them to get back on their feet. Their help is free, confidential and open to any family living in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead with a child aged 0 – 13 years and up to 18 years for Armed Service families.

Family Friends is staffed by a team who are all passionate about helping families going through difficult times. They also have a dedicated Board of Trustees and a number of committed volunteers who come from all walks of life. Why not join them? They are always looking for help.

After nearly 1,200 votes were cast the Swan Charity for 2021, as chosen by the Community, is The Windsor Homeless Project. Congratulations to the winner and commiserations to those that were not successful on this occasion. We are delighted to be able to support this worthy cause and look forward to supporting them throughout the coming year.

The Windsor Homeless Project began following the death of a homeless man. He was found on a bench in the town. Patrick O’Leary died in Windsor from cold and lack of care. This prompted a community of people in Windsor to say … 'this must never happen again'.

The Windsor Homeless Project was launched in 2009 and is a local charity that:

• Provides immediate practical support to the homeless and vulnerable
• Offers support in a respectful, compassionate and non-judgemental way
• Empowers people to rebuild their lives
• Partners with other agencies to support positive change, accommodation and a new, sustainable lifestyle

To see more of their work, please visit their website

Family Friends is a local charity who provide short term support to families who are facing difficult times and enable them to get back on their feet. Their help is free, confidential and open to any family living in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead with a child aged 0 – 13 years and up to 18 years for Armed Service families.

Family Friends is staffed by a team who are all passionate about helping families going through difficult times. Their work includes:

• Offering Triple P Parenting Courses and One to One Parenting Support
• One to One Support Sessions with Children
• One to One Support Sessions with Parent(s)
• Building a Bridge of Support between a Family and their School
• Working with the Army Welfare Service and supporting their Community Development Work

More details can be found on their Facebook Page

We were extremely pleased to support Family Friends through Coffee Mornings, Online activities and through the Coca-Cola donation for winning the Great British Pub Award.

Here are of rules for the selection process for The Swan's Local Charity chosen by the local community. We believe that these rules encompass the CIC's core values of community, sustainability, inclusivity and responsibility.

1. A member of the community (sponsor) can only nominate one charity per year.
2. Certain mandatory information will be requested for all nominated charities. If this is not provided by the nomination deadline, or by any subsequent deadline given in follow up requests, the FoTS Committee reserve the right to reject nominations.
3. All nominations must be entered into the online form at the link provided via email. In exceptional circumstances, anyone who is unable to use this process should contact the FoTS Committee and support can be provided to enter relevant information.
4. All nominated entities must have a charity number in the same name as the organisation being put forward. Charity numbers must be provided as part of the submission and will be checked with the Charity Commission website by the FoTS Committee prior to the nomination being accepted.
5. Nominations for specific charitable projects working under an umbrella registered charity will be accepted, provided the sponsor makes that clear in their nomination. Funds raised must go directly to the project nominated and not be used generally by the umbrella association.
6. All sponsors to contact their proposed charity themselves prior to submitting their nomination. This will ensure that the charity are aware of their nomination and either allow them to provide all the information required or have the opportunity to decline involvement, should they wish to. In any event, all nominated charities will be contacted by the FoTS committee prior to voting being opened to confirm that they are happy to be included in the list of nominees. Charities will be given 48 hours to confirm their interest or otherwise, in participation.
7. If a charity declines to be included after its nomination has been accepted, but before voting opens the nomination will be withdrawn and the nominating sponsor(s) will be informed. If a charity withdraws after voting has opened, all involved parties, including voters and sponsors, will be contacted to inform them of this decision. Any votes already cast for the charity will be considered null and void, and voters will be allowed vote again for an alternative nominee.
8. Nominated charities must operate locally. This is defined as having a significant presence in Windsor and/or the immediate surrounding area and operating so that residents can easily support and access, or benefit from, their services.
9. The FoTS decision on the nominated charities is final. Reasons for not taking a nomination forward will be shared with their sponsor if possible.
10. In order to ensure a rotation of charities we support, nominations from the previous year’s successful charity will not be accepted, but can be re-submitted in future years.
11. In order to be eligible to vote, the email address used in the voting process must be subscribed to The Swan's weekly newsletter as of the first day of voting. Each person/address will only be allowed to vote only once for one charity. Email addresses provided with votes will be reviewed and duplicates removed before counting begins.
12. Email addresses will be collected as part of the voting process, but only for use in line with the reasons noted above i.e., to contact voters in case they need to re-cast their vote and to check for duplicate voting. Email addresses will not be used for any other purpose other than voting.
13. Votes will only be accepted electronically.
14. All communication regarding the dates for the nomination, selection and voting process and eventual chosen charity will be via the FoTS Weekly Email and associated FoTS social media channels. Where information cannot be provided in full via these methods, additional information will be included on this webpage.
15. The total number of votes cast in the process will be given for information, but details on the number of votes received by each charity will not be published.

Any questions, please contact charity@theswanwindsor.co.uk