More than £90,000 was pledged to five innovative Christian charities at the second
Cross Pollinate networking and fundraising event in central London last week.

Around 50 Christian philanthropists gathered at Barclays Wealth in Mayfair, where
they heard five six-minute pitches from the charities’ representatives who explained
“what they could achieve with £5,000”.

The charities then had six minutes of “grilling” by the assembled philanthropists during a question and answer session, before pledges of both practical and financial support were offered.

The five charities, selected to present their causes by an independent panel, were Open Door (North East), which assists destitute asylum seekers on Tyneside,
Clear International, a group providing pro bono legal aid to promote justice for prisoners in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, Bridging the Gap, a charity which aims to get sex workers off the streets of Southampton, the Liverpool-based Kidz Klub, which teaches youngsters about God but has not been able to run this term due to lack of funding, and the Funzibodo Trust which supports development work on the island of Funzi and port of Bodo on the eastern coast of Kenya.

The Cross Pollinate funding network was set up by Christian entrepreneurs Matt Bird of Make It Happen and Ian Wilkins of Alvor Charitable Trust, who have a vision to help
fund and resource small Christian charities, and encourage intuitive and communal
giving.

Bird and Wilkins stressed it was not just about financial support for charities. “We
want to create a network of people and expertise to help charities as they navigate through things like drawing up a strategic plan. Our vision is to raise half a million pounds in five years.”

The next Cross Pollinate meeting will take place on Thursday 26 March at
Pricewaterhouse Cooper at Embankment Place, London.