Member Article

Age Concern Central Lancashire given emergency funding

Age Concern Central Lancashire has been awarded a special grant to help cement its post-Covid future, thanks to emergency Government funding from The National Lottery Community Fund

The award-winning charity has been given £144,000 from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. The grant will cover the cost of running frontline services put in place during the pandemic.

Since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown period, Age Concern Central Lancashire has brought in a raft of measures – such as a dedicated helpline and adapted dementia services – designed to give direct, immediate support to Lancashire’s older population.

As part of the initiative, more than £50,000 worth of food and essential supplies were sourced and delivered to local people, while the charity’s team also made over 6,000 welfare calls to check in on the health and wellbeing of service users. In total, more than 150 volunteers have supported Age Concern Central Lancashire, making weekly shopping trips, delivering food parcels and providing hours of support over the telephone as part of the charity’s ‘befriending’ service.

Now, the latest funding from The National Lottery Community Fund will help the charity cover some of its operating costs incurred from stepping in to help older people, whilst also supporting the charity to move forward.

Suzanne Carr, CEO at Age Concern Central Lancashire, said: “Like many charities across the country, we were hugely impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. From creating immediate pathways of support for our service users and members of public, to closing our shops and centres and cancelling fundraising events and activities that, ultimately, allow us to keep going – it has been an incredibly challenging time.

“So, we welcome this funding with open arms as it will enable us to effectively cover the unexpected costs that were incurred during lockdown, meaning the financial impact on the charity isn’t as great as it could otherwise have been and giving us confidence to plan for the future.”

The grant has been awarded by The National Lottery Community Fund, which created a £200m fund for organisations in England, as part of the Government’s financial support package for charities and social enterprises announced in April.

It is hoped the money will support organisations to continue to deliver services to people and communities affected by Covid-19.

Suzanne added: “As a local charity, we are heavily engrained in our communities and provide essential services to some of the most vulnerable in our society. Many of those contacting us during the lockdown period were living alone and having to shield, meaning our team often provided their only form of communication with the outside world.

“As we ease out of lockdown and move into our ‘new normal’, it’s still important that we maintain these connections with those who need us most and ensure that we support our region’s older population as best we can.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paula Sykes .