More than £81,000 emergency community funding awarded in Newark and Sherwood

Community groups supporting vulnerable residents during the outbreak of Coronavirus are being encouraged to apply for community funding by Newark and Sherwood District Council.

More than £81,000 has already been awarded to 27 groups operating within the district thanks to the Nottinghamshire £1million Community Fund, which forms part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s response to the pandemic.

The fund was launched earlier this month to support local charities, community groups and Town and Parish Councils that are delivering essential services to residents impacted by Coronavirus.

The first batch of funding, worth more than £260,000, has been awarded to 85 groups across Nottinghamshire. Applications are still open and eligible charities and voluntary groups are encouraged to apply for grants up to £10,000.

Grants allocated across the district so far have included:

• Community Volunteer Service (CVS) Newark and Sherwood has received £8,545 to help deliver a volunteer-led shopping and prescription collection scheme, and a telephone-based service offering friendship and support to help self-isolating individuals maintain social contact during isolation.
• My Sight Newark has received £300 to help support those residents who have sight loss by delivering a number of appropriate items to help them through social isolation, as well as offering a telephone-based ‘chatting’ service or an email contact system for those with adapted technology.
• Newark Live At Home received £2,000 to help reduce isolation and loneliness in older people by connecting them with others in their own communities to help improve their mental and physical wellbeing.Services include volunteer befriending telephone support, telephone trees, telephone stimulation games, emergency shopping, a weekly exercise sheet, game packs and a book delivery scheme.
• Newark Town Council was awarded £5,000 to provide a free food delivery service for residents.The Town Council is able to deliver fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and bread sourced from Newark Market Traders on a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Vivienne Hall, of My Sight Newark, said: “The funding came through quickly and was vital to help us continue to support those with sight loss.  Volunteers, using their daily exercise, are delivering bags this weekend to residents with sight loss.  

With thanks to staff at the National Civil War Centre, these bags contain a number of large print outs of outline pictures of local sites such as Newark Castle and the Palace Theatre which will help encourage and enable a mindfulness activity during the social isolation period.

Isolating can feel extremely lonely for anyone but those with sight loss need to have a way to connect with people and our telephone-based befriending service offers them that outlet.”

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “The high number of community groups, charities and volunteers operating within Newark and Sherwood is overwhelming.  

I have heard about so many wonderful groups operating a diverse range of services from cooking and delivering meals to telephone befriending schemes.

The Community Fund grant is available for any project that is directly helping our vulnerable residents and I encourage all groups to apply if they haven’t already. Whatever the support is, seeing the community pull together is inspiring and I am proud to work and live in Newark and Sherwood.”

To find out more on how to apply for community funding through this scheme, more information can be found here: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/emergency/coronavirus/communityfund/.

For a list of groups successful in receiving funding, or to find a local group providing support in your local area, visit the Nottinghamshire Community Support and Volunteering Hub here: www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/coronaviruscommunityhub. 

For anyone who has applied for a grant and haven’t yet received a response, the County Council is currently fast tracking applications and allocating grants on a daily basis.