Working for a Huddersfield company that encourages social responsibility led IT director Ian Lawson to set up a small charity to help other small charities.

And he’s now in a position to hand out grants to those in need and wants to hear from struggling organisations.

His Loose Change Charity, which became officially registered a few months back, was an idea that grew from his work with cash-strapped local groups providing much-needed services to some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“Smaller charities have really been affected by austerity and the situation has got worse,” he said. “They’re telling us that the small pots of money they used to apply for are now being chased by larger charities who used to leave them alone.

“We thought we’d be inundated with requests for help but we haven’t, and we know that even small amounts of money can be significant to a small charity. I have met some fantastic people who are working in the most difficult situations helping people in dire need.”

So far the charity, which currently has 120 supporters each donating £1 a week, has given grants to organisations such as the Kirklees & Calderdale Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre, Colne Valley Addiction Support and Worth Unlimited, which runs cooking clubs and provides holiday meals for children in Lowerhouses.

Ian, who also organises fundraising events, is a member of the 1,000-strong workforce at Cummins Turbo Technologies, a company that supports and expects its employees to take on community work in the fields of education, the environment and social justice.

How much paid time workers can spend on projects is up to their manager’s discretion, but there’s a culture of helping others.

Ian is a former corporate and social responsibility leader at Cummins, a role that he took on for three years and found absorbed increasing amounts of his time.

The Loose Change Charity was a personal project that arose from his work with groups such as KRASACC.

Today it has a small team of trustees and operates at zero cost – Ian set up their website (theloosechangecharity.co.uk) himself and pays for the domain name. It raises about £5,500 a year and aims to attract more supporters willing to make a small but regular donation.

For details of how to contribute or make a grant application go to www.theloosechangecharity.co.uk