Supporting social inclusion in Inverclyde
Charitable organisations and community groups within Inverclyde are invited to apply for extra funding to support projects helping to improve social inclusion within their local community.
Since its launch in 2019, the Provident Social Impact Fund (Scotland) has awarded more than £92,000 to 23 organisations across Glasgow and Paisley. For 2021 the fund will prioritise projects from small, locally-based community groups based in or delivering projects in Greenock or east central Inverclyde.
Grants up to £5,000 are available for activities that help improve personal finance capabilities, improve physical or mental health, address low educational attainment, improve learning and employment outcomes, and support positive family relationships.
Recipients of funding in 2020 include Youth Interventions, a charity in Linwood specialising in young people's emotional and mental wellbeing. They received a grant of £3,000 to contribute to the salary of a Young Person's Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner. Service Manager Louise Dempsey said the support has never been more needed than throughout the pandemic:
"There's been many challenges for everyone in the last year, but what's been beautiful to see, is that the team, and our youth workers, are committed to the needs of the young people across our community. We recruited a local young person who has a lived understanding of the economic and societal pressures that the young people in our community face. While some other youth services furloughed or delivered wholly online, Youth Interventions stayed open, adopting a more blended and collaborative approach".
Other organisations awarded grants in 2020 included Articulate Cultural Trust, Feel Good Women's Group, Finding Your Feet, Fablevision, Kingston Gymnastics Club and Potential in Me.
Sharon Orr, Community Affairs Manager at Provident Financial Group, said
“It’s important that at a time when small voluntary organisations are having to deliver more with less, that we continue to support them. We’ve seen the crucial role that they play in our communities throughout the pandemic – they understand the existing and emerging needs of communities and continue to respond with commitment and energy to the challenges. We would also encourage eligible organisations to apply for core cost funding as we understand how important these are to ongoing service delivery.”
Applications to the Provident Social Impact Fund can be made online (link below), the deadline for new funding applications is Friday 11th June.