Press Release: Grant Awarded
3rd May 2022
Equality Action have been awarded a grant for a culturally appropriate befriending project as part of new scheme to transform mental health across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
We are extremely grateful to be awarded a grant from the “Getting Help in Neighbourhood Scheme”. The grant will allow our grassroot organisation to support culturally appropriate befriending, locally meeting language needs across Charnwood. We will reach out to isolated and lonely adults in our local community for whom English isn’t their first language.
“This opportunity is important to our work in the community because we know many people are suffering with their mental health & well-being. The pandemic has added to this. This scheme will enable us to provide a more culturally appropriate option for those who face barriers of lack of English language.”
Our befrienders will act as a bridge between isolated and lonely individuals and our community activities and services offered by statutory and voluntary organisations locally. The project also allows us to upskill individuals in the community to provide befriending support.
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Getting Help in Neighbourhoods is a new innovative scheme that will eventually see around £3M being spent in local areas by charitable, voluntary and community groups to increase the support available for mental health and wellbeing. Equality Action is proud to be participants of its first round of grants.
This NHS funded grant scheme, has been organised in a partnership between the CCG, LPT, Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council and has been administered by Leicestershire & Rutland Community Foundation (LRCF), an organisation that strengthens local communities by giving thoughtful grants to local charities and voluntary groups, for all kinds of local needs.
Katy Green, CEO of the Foundation said: “We were so pleased to be asked to administer this fund. We give grants to local voluntary groups to help them support our communities – it’s all we do – so we see the challenges. Mental health support, especially after the pandemic, is a huge challenge and this fund is taking on that challenge.”
“Many of us don’t realise how much local voluntary groups achieve day by day with local people who are struggling for whatever reason. The voluntary sector is the real “leveller up” making sure as many people as possible are given opportunities to thrive.”
You can find out more about the new grant scheme by following the link below
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