To reinvest some of our profits directly back into the community, we have established a fund that can be used to make charitable donations to support specific activity.

Some of this fund, (the Community Dividend Reserve), is administered directly by our Residents' Panel. The rest is administered via Accent Foundation.

Here is a small selection of some of the recent projects we have supported:

Dene Valley Community Partnership

A grant of £15,000 to fund the 'One Stop Shop' in Bishop Auckland, Co Durham. The shop provides local residents with:

• a training centre;
• a resource/lending library;
• an IT suite;
• a community cafe;
• advice; and
• childcare.

There are also plans to equip the centre with youth facilities and a launderette service, which will be run by volunteers.

Sawtry Day Nursery - Accent Nene

This grant of over £9,000 has helped to create a garden in a local playing field adjacent to the nursery. The garden is landscaped, planted with trees and shrubs and paved, making it useable all year round. There are also children's interest areas to encourage physical activity.

Barrow Rugby League Youth Academy

Our grant of £22,000 has helped to establish an academy that will allow young players to progress their rugby skills, while keeping their talent in the local area. Community involvement events to promote fitness and healthy living are also planned.

The National Tenants Resource Centre

The National Tenants Resource Centre at Trafford Hall, Chester, provides training and support to tenants from across the country. This helps to improve the skills base in the local community, enabling people to get involved in the decision making processes that affect their daily lives. Our grant of £100,000 was used to help purchase Trafford Hall, which will help to reduce the centre's running costs for years to come. In turn, this will help to keep the costs of courses low.

Trafford Hall also provided an ideal venue for our 40th anniversary celebrations in March 2007, when we held an activity weekend for 40 residents, staff and children.

Sussex Oakleaf Housing Association - Accent Peerless

Sussex Oakleaf is a housing and community support provider for young people with mental health and substance abuse problems. Our grant is being used to employ a service user coordinator.

Housing Diversity Network

Our grant of £59,000 has helped the network to continue working with housing providers to promote equality and diversity in our industry.

Accent Scholarships

Our Accent Scholarships have increased to £1,500 per year. This applies to new and existing applicants, starting or continuing courses in September 2007.

Applicants must be over 16 and be a resident, a dependent child of a resident living at home, or a leaseholder. Courses must lead to nationally accredited qualifications at NVQ Level 3 or above.

We also consider applications where there is written evidence of Special Educational Needs, (SENs), at NVQ Level 2.