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THE National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, is helping to reduce loneliness amongst charity workers in the South West by launching an initiative to connect staff from community groups across the region.
Over 200 of The National Lottery Community Fund’s grant holders, from Gloucestershire to Cornwall, took part in the first ‘Coffee Club’. They were paired up at random to have a friendly chat over the phone or video, giving them the opportunity to share ideas and seek advice from their peers across the sector.
For many charity workers now working from home, managing the increased pressure COVID-19 has placed on their services over the past few months has been particularly isolating.
Bev Price, Centre and Projects Manager at All Saints Church Community Centre, lives and works in rural Cornwall. She said:
“I was quite shocked to realise that the person I spoke with was the first person in six months I had spoken to that was not suicidal or a new client in crisis or in need of help. I have been the only worker running crisis lines, as well as the usual centre and office phone number, throughout lockdown, and it was really nice to be able to share ideas and chat to someone running a similar project.”
Her experience highlights a problem that is affecting people across the UK:
- According to a survey conducted during the pandemic by the Office for National Statistics, around 2.6 million people across Great Britain said they feel lonely ‘often or always’
- In another survey, undertaken by The National Lottery Community Fund, 47% of the 7000 UK residents surveyed cited ‘reducing loneliness and isolation’ as a priority for 2021.
Further National Lottery research shows that charity workers want to stay connected, share experiences, and seek advice from their peers about everyday issues that affect them. The Coffee Club aims to help them do just that.
The feedback was incredibly positive:
- Nine in ten (88%) people came away feeling ‘less isolated, understanding others are facing similar challenges’.
- Three quarters (73%) came away with ideas that could help their organisation, and in turn the people it supports.
Cassie Tait, Head of Creative Learning and Community Engagement at Wiltshire Music, said:
“I really do love this initiative! It was great to connect with someone working in a very different setting and discuss common areas of youth voice, health and wellbeing and continuing our programmes through COVID-19. This was good for Wiltshire Music, but also for me personally.”
After its success, this pilot scheme looks set to be the first in a series of Grantholder Coffee Clubs for The National Lottery Community Fund, and the groups it supports, nationwide.
Rowan Miller, Head of Funding for the South West at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“We are so pleased that our first Grantholder Coffee Club has been such a success. It illustrates the importance of community and keeping the inspiring people working and volunteering for charities and organisations connected across the South West. So many of them have had to adapt to difficult and isolating working conditions, whilst also providing life-changing services to those in need. I am delighted that, thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to help community leaders make new connections and share ideas.”
The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Last year, we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK. Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised each week for good causes throughout the UK.
charitytoday.co.uk | 28 January 2021
BLIND Veterans UK’s training and rehabilitation centre in Llandudno has been supporting the Llanfairfechan food bank in their local community during the lockdown period.
The charity has been supporting the foodbank since December on a weekly basis. Mike Priestley, Transport Driver at Blind Veterans UK’s Llandudno centre, has been delivering food out to the local community as part of the partnership.
Mike said:
“I would like to thank everyone at Blind Veterans for their support and giving me the opportunity to help some of our residents during these very difficult times.”
Llanfairfechan food bank is a community-led organisation which helps many families and individuals in the local area. Like for many organisations, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on resources, and they rely on voluntary help more than ever.
Penny Andow, Chair of Llanfairfechan Foodbank said:
“It was an absolute delight to be told that Blind Veterans UK would support Llanfairfechan Foodbank. We have been extremely grateful to Mike Priestley who has assisted the Foodbank in many ways. Such partnerships are essential to our communities and I am confident that our joint working will promote and develop both organisations.”
The charity is helping the foodbank for four hours a week and is also looking at opportunities to provide resources to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme at Venue Cymru in Llandudno.
Paul Wynne-Williams, Facilities Manager at the charity’s Llandudno centre, said:
“It has been a pleasure to work collaboratively with the local community, by providing the resource and the transport to support for such a worthy cause.”
Blind Veterans UK has adapted its service to support its 5,000 beneficiaries, 90% of whom are over 70 and at an increased risk from COVID-19. The National Support Service has and will continue to help blind veterans through this period of social isolation.
Nicky Shaw, Blind Veterans UK Director of Operations said:
“Living in isolation, blind veterans need our help right now with daily tasks, such as shopping, and constant emotional support through this difficult time. So we are temporarily changing our service and mobilising our staff to provide practical, essential support to help the most vulnerable.
“There is so much that we can and must do to support blind veterans to help them maintain physical and emotional wellbeing, and to feel safe, reassured and cared for during this crisis.”
You can keep updated on Blind Veterans UK’s response to COVID-19 at blindveterans.org.uk/coronavirus where you can also find out more about supporting the charity to make this new service possible.
charitytoday.co.uk | 27 January 2021
NEW research out today from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, shows that the pandemic has helped to reignite people’s interest in their local community and sparked a desire to be more involved in 2021.
Across the UK almost seven in ten people (69%) feel like they are part of their local community, with around a third acknowledging that COVID has increased their sense of belonging (35%) and also made it more important for them to feel part of it (33%).
The survey of over 7,000 UK adults across the UK is nationally and politically representative and asks how people are feeling about their community and their ambitions for their local area for the year ahead.
After a year which thrust community spirit into the spotlight, three in ten (30%) say that they plan to get more involved in their local community in 2021. But as well as enjoying a greater appreciation of their local community, people also have a firm sense of the challenges their community faces and what will be important in their local area this year.
Reducing loneliness and isolation (47%), helping the local economy (43%), supporting mental health (39%) and helping local people to live healthily and well (38%) are all seen as important for their community’s wellbeing this year.
Other 2021 priorities are access to natural green spaces (52%), providing young people with places to go and activities to do (48%) and community activities that bring people together (38%) – all of which could potentially help with another concern for communities, which is safe on the streets (54%).
Interestingly, many of the changes people most want to see for their community in the year ahead are behavioural. These include people caring and looking out for each other (50%), a focus on supporting each other and good neighbourliness (45%), and parents spending quality time with their children (42%).
2020 also appears to have opened people’s eyes to the great work being done by many within their communities with a majority (65%) saying that local community groups and projects, volunteers and charities deserve more recognition. And when thinking of what they most want for their local community in 2021, just over a third (34%) want to see support for community projects and charities.
Faiza Khan MBE, Director of Engagement and Insight at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“Last year so many communities up and down the country demonstrated the amazing things people can do to support each other during challenging times. This research shows the power of that collective endeavour and the profound impact on how we feel about the areas we live in and the people around us – making more of us appreciate our community and want to get involved.
“At The National Lottery Community Fund, we believe that local communities know what they need and the research highlights some of the thousands of projects that people value as part of everyday life – these are exactly the kind of projects that regularly benefit from funding made possible thanks to National Lottery players.”
National Lottery players raise £30 million a week for good causes and the research findings chime with the thousands of grant requests The National Lottery Community Fund deals with and the conversations its regional funding teams have with grant holders across the UK.
During 2020 it distributed over £650 million to community projects across the UK, funding thousands of projects bringing people together, tackling loneliness and isolation, supporting young people and benefitting the environment – all things that this research demonstrates are important to people and their communities.
One such project, which provides green spaces coupled with activities for young people is an environmental charity, Tree for Cities. It works with local communities across the UK, including Racecourse Estate in Ealing, London, bringing people together to create high-quality green spaces and cultivating lasting change in their neighbourhoods – whether it’s revitalising forgotten spaces, creating healthier environments or getting people excited about growing, foraging and eating healthy food.
David Elliott, Chief Executive at Trees for Cities, said:
“As a tree-planting organisation with local communities and people at its heart, we have seen the direct benefits that urban green spaces bring to the people and communities we work in. These findings back up our own understanding of the multiple benefits that urban trees and green spaces have on our mental health and wellbeing, as well as the importance of bringing local communities together to help create and enjoy green spaces. Last year, thanks to National Lottery players, we were able to deliver more transformational greening projects and connect more young people with nature – enabling and inspiring them to act upon their great ideas and ambitions for their community.”
For more information on The National Lottery Community Fund and the funding available to support communities, please visit: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/covid-19
charitytoday.co.uk | 12 January 2021