Funding boost for county groups from Shropshire Community Foundation
A total of 19 organisations across the county have been awarded funding in the first grants from a new fund overseen by Shropshire Community Foundation to tackle loneliness and isolation.
SCF has handed out £18,000 in grants to community and voluntary organisations in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin from its new Acorn Community Fund set up earlier this year and partly funded through contributions from local businesses.
The 19 grants for between £1,500 and £500 have been awarded to a range of organisations including Sight Loss Shropshire for its work in supporting visually impaired children through events and activities, Chetton and District Parish Hall for its Chetton Active Friends sessions and Shrewsbury Food Hub.
Shropshire Community Foundation trustee Sonia Roberts who was a member of the awarding panel, said that it had been a difficult task to allocate funding from a set of extremely worthwhile applicants.
“We believe that those awarded grants represent just some of the outstanding work going on across the county to reach those who are lonely or isolated in our towns and villages,” she said.
One of the organisations to be awarded a grant was the multi-award winning Shrewsbury Men’s Shed project which supports 150 ‘shedders’ from its base at the West Midlands Showground.
Chair of the trustees, Simon Rouse, said that one of the advantages of the Acorn Fund grant was that it could be used to fund any part of the charity’s work.
“We will be using some of the money to complete the refurbishment of our kitchen as part of our plans for shedders to start cooking hot meals for each other two days each week using some of the produce from our garden and greenhouse,” he said.
Details of funding available from Shropshire Community Foundation are available through the website at Home Page - Shropshire Community Foundation or by emailing [email protected]
Organisations receiving grants are: Shropshire European Organisation CIC, Sight Loss Shropshire, Aurum Autism Support, Chetton and District Parish Hall, Crowsmill Craft Centre, Glyn’s Garden in Church Stretton, Omega – Ending Isolation, Ending Loneliness, Purposeful Active Living, Shrewsbury Food Hub, Shropshire Inclusive Dance, Wem SEN Hub, Wem Town Hall, Bridgnorth Cancer Support Group, PODS Charity Youth Club, Shrewsbury Men’s Shed, A Better Tomorrow charity, Telford and Wrekin CVS, BizEd Projects CIC and Empowering Women to Health.
