Coronavirus Response Fund distributes £89,966 in second round of awards

7th April 2020

Carol Franssen, Surrey Heath Age Concern befriender

We are proud to announce that 20 charities and community groups across Surrey have received a total of £89,966 in the second round of grants awarded from our emergency response funding, made available to help the county’s most vulnerable people during the Coronavirus pandemic.

This brings the total funding awarded from the Surrey Coronavirus Response Fund so far to £208,696!

Once more, we have been overcome by the positive response received from local people, families and businesses in continuing to keep the donations coming in! Since launching our urgent appeal on March 26th, we have raised £500,000.

The fund has been set up to ensure quick and responsive grant-making for the community and voluntary groups assisting in the relief effort, and we’re delighted to be announcing these additional grants in quick succession. We will continue to award grants from the Coronavirus Response Funding for as long as we are able and aim to announce additional awards weekly alongside progress updates.

Below are just some examples of how these grants will make a difference to the lives of people in Surrey:

Surrey Heath Age Concern received funds for essential running costs to continue their work tackling the impact of isolation on older people, particularly during this period. The team at the charity are phoning clients regularly to offer support and reassurance to help deplete feelings of anxiety, loneliness, depression and fear of running out of vital supplies.

“This grant will make such a difference to our charity and enable us to carry on making a vital difference to the lives of the isolated elderly people. We are phoning them 2-3 times a week and reminding them to ring any time if they need anything or just want a chat.”

Tracy Hiney – Manager, Age Concern Surrey Heath

Mary Frances Trust received funds for additional IT equipment to expand support services to people suffering from mental ill-health and isolation across Surrey. This equipment will enable the charity to deliver remote support to clients and offer workshops to both individuals and groups during the Covid-19 crisis, helping those coping with an array of issues, such as anxiety, mental ill-health and physical well-being.

yourSanctuary received support towards salary costs, enabling their work helping victims of domestic abuse. Since the lockdown measures ordered by the Government were put in place, the charity has already seen an increase in demand for their free and confidential helpline service, as more victims are forced to stay at home with their abuser. In order to deal with this rise in demand, their helpline advisors are working extra shifts to increase the overall capacity of their vital service.

“This grant will enable us to continue running our vital domestic abuse Surrey-wide helpline and online chat service. These services are often the only way survivors who are in lockdown with their abuser can reach out for support and information – they are a lifeline to those in our community for whom ‘home’ is the most dangerous place they can be.”

Fiamma Pather – Chief Executive, yourSanctuary

The additional 17 grants can be found here:

  1. Action for Carers (Surrey) received funding for IT equipment to allow their staff to work from home, to continue to support carers
  2. Active Prospects received a grant for IT licences and activity packs to address isolation for people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health issues, as well as sensory resources to address emotional ill-health of clients
  3. Age Concern Voluntary Association for the Elderly Merstham, Redhill and Reigate received a grant for essential running costs to continue supporting isolated older people
  4. Cruse Bereavement Care South West Surrey Area received funding towards essential running costs to continue their work supporting the bereaved
  5. Elmbridge Rentstart were awarded funds for IT equipment and essential running costs to continue their work with helping homeless and vulnerable local people
  6. Farnham Maltings Association Ltd received funding towards a helpline and meals-on-wheels delivery services available in Farnham
  7. Freewheelers Theatre and Media Ltd received funds towards the designing and developing of free online courses for clients to take part in interactive music, dance, drama, media and visual arts sessions within the Mole Valley and Elmbridge area
  8. Guildford Action for Community Care received funds towards their essential running costs to continue to support the homeless
  9. Headway Surrey were awarded funds to help provide hardware, software and internet access to people with brain-injuries
  10. Manna Foodbank (St Mary’s and St Peter’s) were awarded funds for a foodbank serving people facing hardship in Spelthorne
  11. Matrix Trust received funds towards the delivery in amended services and essential running costs to continue to support young people
  12. North Surrey Community Counselling Partnership (NSCCP) received funds for hardware and software costs to move to remote working, to continue to support people with mental ill-health
  13. Outline were awarded funding for IT equipment and essential running costs to continue their work supporting LGBT+ people suffering during isolation
  14. Surrey Care Trust were awarded funding to upgrade and implement a number of remote working practices to enable support to be given to vulnerable people across Surrey
  15. The Brigitte Trust received funds towards a Telephone Befriending Service addressing loneliness and isolation
  16. The Children’s Trust received funding for personal protective equipment and cleaning costs to continue their work supporting children with severe brain injuries and vulnerable children safely
  17. York Road Project were awarded funding towards the purchase of equipment and food to support their work in helping to house and feed the homeless

 

There is still great need

We are incredibly grateful for all donations that we have received so far, however there is still great need, with over £800,000 of requests currently in progress. Our team is working endlessly to best distribute donations quickly and efficiently, but without further support, the fund simply won’t survive.

If you would like to donate to the Fund, you can do so via the secure online Virgin Money Giving page and by direct bank transfer. If you would like to donate via bank transfer, please contact Laura Thurlow on 01483 478086 or email Laura@cfsurrey.org.uk.

If you are interested in applying for Coronavirus Response Funding, we encourage you to read the eligibility guidelines and apply online here. Applications can be made either by filling out a short online form or by selecting a time for a telephone interview with a CFS volunteer.