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Last updated: 29 December 2009
West Swindon Family and Community Project is a local charity which supports families with children in the West Swindon area. They have seen an increase in demand for support for housing and debt problems, but also other areas related to increased stress levels, such as domestic abuse.
They will use their grant to improve the level of service offered to their community; by increasing the capacity of their advice work, including outreach, and offering more counseling session. They will also expand other support to those who have lost employment.
DIAL provide free impartial information, practical advice and services to those who are disabled and/or disadvantaged on a range of issues, enabling them, their carers and families to make more informed choices and empowered decisions concerning their life and future.
DIAL Southend has been awarded a grant to expand their outreach surgeries from 3 half days a week to 4 full days a week – an increase of 62.5%. This will significantly impact on the increase in the volume of referrals they are receiving as a direct result of the recession and this will also help in reducing waiting times.
DWC operate a range of programmes aimed at supporting women. Those accessing services have usually experienced some form of stress or trauma. Their Targeted Support Fund grant will be used to expand the ‘Moving On’ programme – a package of workshops, job search sessions and debt advice aimed at supporting vulnerable women back into the work place and out of financial difficulty.
The grant will employ three workers to sustain and develop the project for the next seven months, and DWC will also be launching a work placement element to the scheme.
Pride Media Association is an established Community Media Training & Activity Provider. They work across the Rochdale Borough providing a range of Media and related Training. Over the past 12 months there has been an increase in demand for adult learning activities.
In response to this, Pride Media will use their grant to offer a weekly programme of I.T. support sessions for people affected by short term unemployment in Rochdale Borough, and who may not have access to the internet, or may not have the relevant skills to take advantage of the internet as a tool for employment
Jonathan Burns, Director, Pride Media Association said:
“The Targeted Support Fund will make a huge difference to the work of Pride Media Association and local people affected by the current economic crisis.
Through the sit and surf project, Pride Media Association will work with short and long term unemployed individuals, those with low IT literacy and people over the age of 50. This accessible one to one support will enable them to identify employment, training and volunteering opportunities”.
FOCAST provides regular contact between community associations, and organises a forum where groups can swap equipment and share ideas.
With their Targeted Support Fund grant, they will run a half-day drop in session in 24 community centres, enabling people with relatively minor debt problems help straight away, without having to wait for an appointment with a CAB worker. The CAB in the area currently has a waiting list of eight weeks.
Meridian Money Advice aims to improve the quality of life of their clients by reducing debt, maximising income and improving their abilities to cope with their financial situation.
Their Targeted Support Fund grant will be used to meet the organisation’s core running costs and will contribute towards one advisor and associated overheads. They aim to support 110 new clients during the period.
Jane Hill, Adviser, Meridian Money Advice said:
“Meridian Money Advice really appreciates the financial support given by the Targeted Support Fund. It will enable us to continue to provide in-depth debt and welfare advice to an ever-increasing number of clients using our small team of experienced advisers. The recession has affected many people and our intervention is needed more than ever.”
FAIRshare Credit Union is not-for-profit, cooperative-owned and managed by its members. It offers financial services to those excluded from mainstream banking. In the last year, debt problems experienced by their members have risen by 109%.
They operate seven volunteer branches at various locations in the borough, as many residents can’t travel into town to access the main office. Having a Targeted Support Fund grant will enable FAIRshare to operate five additional branches in areas of high financial exclusion, providing advice and financial expertise in areas where it’s really needed.
The High Street Centre offer a range of training and learning opportunities to meet the needs of local residents, and also support other organisations that use the presmises. Their grant will provide a community based training programme to support young people through training and volunteering.
Hanley Hope Centre has seen the effects of the downturn on its community, through job losses in local industries, increased debt and bankruptcy problems, and through the demand for new skills training.
Their Targeted Support Fund grant will enable them to meet this demand by offering more places on their pre-employment training programme, which offers training and support in a safe enviornment. A creche is provided, offering additional help for lone parents. It works to increase not only job-readiness, but people’s sense of self worth and wellbeing.
Sunderland Mind was established 32 years ago and it provides support for people recovering or still coping with mental ill health. It offers advice when needed and has a drop-in, which is open seven days a week.
A grant will increase the hours of its Manager, two volunteer co-ordinators, support worker and admin worker. There will also be an additional 10 counselling sessions per week. The group aims to recruit more volunteers to deliver sessions in additional locations in Sunderland. Funding for training is included included in the grant to ensure the counsellors are able to deal with the type of problems being seen more recently, such as debt, gambling and money management.
This organisation aims to engage disadvantaged Pakistani women with learning difficulties, and help them develop new skills.
Offering a series of entry level one employability and personal development courses, will allow those who take part to gain new skills and move to employment. The grant will fund staff and volunteers, as well as a creche and computer equipment for the course.
The LMC Support & Information Service is an independent charity providing support to court users. Over the last year, demand for their services increased by over 30%, with a peak in financial problems such as debt, employment and benefits advice.
Their Targeted Support Fund grant will allow them to increase their capacity, offering help to more clients, as well as recruiting and training more local volunteers.
This organisation works to encourage the local community to save and borrow money at a cheap rate and discourage doorstep lending in the area.
Their grant will allow them to extend their scope, working with the council and trading standards to spread their message to a wider range of people about the services the credit union offers and to increase membership.
Home-start Salford has been operating in the area for 10 years, working to support parents in an informal and confidential setting. In the last 6 months alone they have experienced an 80% increase in the amount of families they’ve supported in the west of Salford.
Their grant will contribute to the salary of the coordinator and administrator, as well as allowing Home-start to recruit, train and manage extra volunteers to support more families.
WNCIC is a charity offering a range of volunteering, learning and community involvement opportunities for people who live in the area. In the last 6 months, their new client numbers have increased by 135%.
Using their Targeted Support Fund grant, WNCIC will provide additional support to more clients, enabling them to get help with their problems more quickly. This is particularly important with people in debt crisis.
North Kirklees MIND supports people with mental ill health in Kirklees, and has experienced a large increase in demand for their services over the last year.
Their grant will allow expansion of their ‘Staying Out’ project, which provides a structured programme of activities to enhance support for people to improve their mental health, and reduce social isolation.