Tackling Social isolation and Loneliness the aim of Hednesford Grant Funding
Community groups in Hednesford are being encouraged to seek grant support for initiatives and ideas to address social isolation and loneliness.
The £5,000 Hednesford Town Council grants scheme provides funding for local community groups provide a benefit to people within the local area.
Previous winners include Community First Responders, who used the funds to help finance a new emergency response vehicle and the Staffordshire Voluntary Car Scheme, which supports older people and those with mobility issues who are unable to access public transport.
The newly revised annual grant scheme will aim to tackle the concerns and priorities of Hednesford residents, with social isolation and loneliness identified as this year’s theme.
Councillor Garry Jones commented: “We have spent some significant time looking at what we would prefer the grant fund to achieve and it is important to both the community and Councillors that we spend public money wisely and with a focus. This year the decision is to tackle the issues of social isolation and loneliness.”
Principal Speaker for Wellbeing, Isolation and Loneliness Councillor Sharon Jagger added: “We have a fantastic community spirit and we want to encourage ways to help the most vulnerable in our community get involved with Hednesford as a great place to live. We look forward to hearing about some great ideas to connect our community and address the blight of isolation and loneliness.
“Whether your group has a new idea or needs help with an existing project we want to help you bring people together”
Shaun Mayo, a trustee of Community First Responders, said: “Our group of local dedicated volunteers were very grateful to have received a grant amounting to £500 from the Hednesford Town Council. The grant form was submitted as part of an ongoing project to replace one of our Rapid Response Vehicles and I am pleased to confirm that with the help of the Hednesford Council and other organisations we are now in possession of our new vehicle. It is currently going through the final stages of conversion from car to Response vehicle which will be used by our Team to attend a range of emergency 999 calls within the area. We would like the thank the members of the Council for selecting us as one of the recipients of their community grants in 2019.”
Whilst preference will be given in the grant scheme for initiatives around tacking social isolation and loneliness other applications will be considered on their merit. The deadline for applications is 1st December 2019.
An application pack is available from the town clerk by emailing peter.harrison@hednesford-tc.gov.uk or through the council website bit.ly/HTCgrants