So far we have supported 673 people to get the help they need. 1,008 referrals of vulnerable people from the Department of work and pensions, have been contacted by either phone or by email to check if they need help and referred accordingly.
We have awarded £50,000 to the homeless shelter ‘Somewhere to go’ in the last two financial years. We gave £3,777.50 to the YMCA who have distributed the money to Covid-19 support groups with a further amount of £3,777.50 going directly to the Foodbank. We have funded advertisement of essential help routes in excess of £5,000.
We have redirected a core team of 8 staff to the COVID-19 community response project and have been working alongside North Somerset Council and voluntary community support groups to grow a group of volunteers and to direct people who need help to the support that is there for them. We are now actively applying for grant funding to support this voluntary army of people. We provide a vital link to the community from Central Government and health organisation referrals to ensure that people can access support if they need it.
We have run social media campaigns and put up information in our noticeboards around the area. We also launched our new website and newsletter ahead of schedule to deliver information effectively.
In the coming weeks, a minimum of 47,000 homes will have postcards through their letter boxes letting them know exactly where to get help if they need.
It’s not about the money and we know this is a drop in the ocean. We want you to know what we are in this together, and as a council, we may be working from home but our hearts are in our community.