Public
Embargoed Until 9am, Tuesday 6th December 2016
Five South West of England Community Organisations
Win Public Vote for Share of £1.25m From NatWest’s
Skills and Opportunities Fund
Five community organisations from across the South West of England have a won a share of £1.25m from NatWest’s Skills and Opportunities Fund.
Following a public vote, ‘Faithworks Wessex’ in Bournemouth (Grant: £30,000); ‘Somerset Youth Volunteering Network’ in Glastonbury(£33,500); No Limits (South) in Southampton (£34,654); 1625 Independent People in Bristol (£34,812); and Smart Savings CIC in Redruth, Cornwall (£11,000),have been chosen to benefit from the fund which supports organisations in disadvantaged communities that help people develop, create, or access the skills and opportunities they need to get into work or start a business.
Charities, not-for-profit organisations, and state-funded schools and colleges can apply for up to £35,000 each for a specific project from the fund which will distribute grants totalling £2.5 million this year – in two £1.25m tranches - and is expected to help more than 25,000 people.
About this year’s South West of England winners and how they’ll be spending their grants:
• Faithworks Wessex, Bournemouth
This Christian charity delivers befriending and practical projects to address material, relational and self-esteem poverty across the Bournemouth / Poole / Christchurch conurbation, helping people to “live life to the full”.In particular, they will be using the grant to develop their Money Matters project that not only supports people in immediate debt crisis through their FCA-regulated debt advice service, but also runs a whole series of money management training for those at key life transitions such as new college students, ex-offenders, unpaid carers, and those escaping food crisis.
• Somerset Youth Volunteering Network, Glastonbury
Somerset Youth Volunteering Network works with young people on local community projects. It will be using the grant to provide money management information and advice to over 450 young people from deprived communities, including the opportunity for 100 of them to gain a formal qualification.
• No Limits (South), Southampton
No Limits offers free and confidential information, advice, counselling, support and advocacy to children and young people under 26. It will be using the grant to provide one-to-one and group-based financial education to disadvantaged young people. By enabling them to manage their personal finances more effectively, it will support their journey into adult life, helping them to achieve sustained housing and employment.
• 1625 Independent People (1625ip), Bristol
The charity works with young people aged 16-25 to provide housing, life skills, education, training and jobs. It will be using the grant for its ‘Money Tree’ programme which will help hundreds of young homeless people take control of their money so that they do not suffer the devastating effects of homelessness again.
• Smart Savings CIC, Redruth, Cornwall
Smart Savings is an award-winning community interest company based that provides accredited and non-accredited financial literacy training; money coaching; debt advice; and employment skills. Smart Savings projects have had a substantial social impact in Cornwall, with improvements seen in individuals’ financial literacy, numeracy skills, well-being, and soft skills such as confidence and motivation, and securing voluntary work and paid employment.
Oliver Watts, Chairman of NatWest's South West and Wales Regional Board, said: “It was a challenging decision because of the standard of entries we received. But the panel felt that allof theorganisations would make a massive impact in their local communities.Our congratulations and best wishes go to them all and I’d encourage anyone who wasn’t successful this time to try again when applications open in Februaryfor the next round.”
Over 800 organisations from across the UK and Republic of Ireland applied to this year’s fund before a total of 96 were chosen to enter the public vote.
Jamie Gill, Partnerships Director, 1625ip, said: “The Money Tree project is about young homeless people taking control of what little money they have. Young people so often tell us they need much more support around money and this project provides us with a sustainable way of doing that. We’re really looking forward to training a group of community volunteers to help young people develop financial confidence with these life-changing skills. We’d like to say a huge thank you to NatWest and everyone who voted for us!”
Annabel Hodgson, CEO, No Limits, said: “We’re delighted to have been chosen to receive a grant from NatWest’s Skills and Opportunities Fund! The funding will help us to support 385 young people who are struggling to manage their finances through providing them with one-to-one and group-based financial education. Without the support from funders like NatWest we wouldn’t be able to deliver information, advice and support to disadvantaged young people in Southampton and Hampshire. Thank you for your support!”
Anna Carey, Somerset Youth Volunteering Network, said: "People of all ages and from all walks of life can struggle with budgeting and money management and we know that being able to teach these skills to young people can have an impact that lasts a lifetime. We welcome the funding from NatWest and the real difference that it will make to the lives of the 450 young people who will benefit from this project."
Alistair Doxat-Purser;Chief Executive, Faithworks Wessex, said: "We are so delighted to have been chosen for this Skills and Opportunities grant. Many locally are facing growing challenges in managing their finances, especially in an area like this where house prices are so high compared to average salaries. So having this extra support to develop our Money Matters programme and provide more training in how to make your money go further is invaluable. Thank you to all who voted for our project... and thank you to Natwest/RBS for creating this way of bringing hope to more people in financial despair."
For further information visit
-ENDS-
Picture captions:
#1& #2
Nigel Burden, Relationship Manager, NatWest and the 1625ip team (Fran Hughes, Alex Green, Amy Martin, Jo Lea-Jones, Josh Seddon, Alison Hancock, Ria Anderson, Thomas Dunn, Tia Psihogios and Melanie Lavin).
#3(L-R)
Melanie Lavin, 1625ip
Nigel Burden, Relationship Manager, NatWest
Ria Anderson, 1625ip
For further information please contact:
Karl Blockwell
Regional PR Manager, NatWest
Tel: 07342-075330
Email:
Notes to Editors
About NatWest’s Skills & Opportunities Fund
The Skills & Opportunities Fund, which launched in 2015, has already distributed over £3 million, providing grants of up to £35,000 to not-for-profit organisations across the UK and Ireland that have helped people achieve qualifications, find work or start a new business.
The fund is just one part of NatWest’s wider community support programme, covering everything from The Prince’s Trust (encouraging entrepreneurialism), to MoneySense, (delivering financial education in schools), and RugbyForce, (supporting local sports teams).
The next round of funding will be launched in February 2017. To register for our mailing list, sign up at skillsandopportunities-keepintouch.com/.