Coronavirus: Shropshire Council pledges £295,000 for voluntary and community groups responding to the impact of coronavirus

Shropshire Council is providing a package of financial support to community groups and voluntary organisations who are providing critical support to those impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19) living here.

Shropshire is fortunate to have communities that want to come together to support themselves at times like this, with local councils and councillors often playing an important role in leading and co-ordinating activity. We also have a host of voluntary and community organisations that work tirelessly with their volunteers to provide vital services to older people and vulnerable people across the county.

Coronavirus: Community advice and support

To support this work at a time when the need for their support has never been so important, Shropshire Council will fund local community and voluntary organisation activity in the following ways –

• £75,000 for local community groups, including community centres and village halls – to be made available in grants up to a maximum of £500.
• £100,000 for groups and initiatives providing food and home supplies to older people and vulnerable residents.
• £120,000 investment in our key voluntary organisations, to enable them to both deliver vital support, and provide support to our communities to do this.

The coronavirus pandemic is extremely challenging for all of us in many ways. Ensuring that our older and vulnerable residents have the support they need, whilst they are following the Government’s instruction to Stay At Home and self-isolate, is vitally important. The £295,000 funding will enable more community-delivered support to be in put place, and for the length of time it will be needed.

Shropshire Council is hugely grateful to everyone who is coming forward wanting to use their time, energy and skills to support others, and also to our tremendous voluntary organisations that we rely on to continue delivering services in the most challenging of circumstances.

In Shropshire we are now all strongly working together to slow the spread and reduce the impact of coronavirus, and need to continue to do this in the foreseeable future.

Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care, public health and climate change, said:

“In such unprecedented times, I am encouraged by the incredible response from our communities to support those most in need. The situation is becoming more serious, but by supporting our grassroot groups we will bolster our communities, enabling them to provide help and support to people who are likely to be most seriously affected by self-isolation and illness caused by the virus.

“We will work to make sure the funds reach the communities that need them the most. We are in touch with local voluntary and community organisations to see what is needed and how funds can be spent. We will move quickly to ensure organisations working with older and vulnerable people are supported.”

Further information

The £75,000 funding for community groups etc will be made available through a fast- tracked grants programme: details on how to apply will be made available when the programme launches.

The Food Poverty Alliance has already been grant funded 20k to help coordinate our response, and to directly fund food banks who may be running low on food. An additional 80k has been made available and we will be working through in the coming weeks about how this will be used and distributed.

The £120,000 for the voluntary and community organisations will be invested in a number of key Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations with experience of both delivering support to communities and supporting the development of smaller organisations.