A women’s centre, a counselling service for unemployed young people
and a project offering debt and welfare advice are among those to get a
slice of the region’s £788,740 allocation from the
Government’s Targeted Support Fund.
The Targeted Support Fund, worth £15 million in total, provides
grants between £10,000 and £40,000 to the organisations helping
those most at risk of increased deprivation due to the economic
downturn.
The fund helps them provide support to their communities through a range of
recession-focused services relating to information and guidance, health and
wellbeing, and employment.
Overall, 558 frontline charities and voluntary organisations across the
country receive grants today.
The East Midlands allocation is just over five per cent of the
total allocation and reflects the region’s relative economic
strength.
The Targeted Support Fund is just one of the steps being taken by the
Government to provide an unprecedented level of help to charities and
voluntary organisations.
Following the Action Plan ‘Real Help for Communities’,
published in February, more than 1,600 organisations have been already been
offered £16.7m financial support through recession focused grants,
loans and bursaries.
Minister for the East Midlands Phil Hope said:
“We know how important it is to support those individuals and
families who are struggling during these difficult economic
times.
“As a former Minister for the Third Sector, I have seen at first
hand how crucial those services provided by frontline voluntary
organisations and charities are to the most vulnerable members of our
communities.
“The £788,740 Targeted Support Fund allocation for the East
Midlands will help more than 30 of those organisations in the region to
develop and carry on their good work.”
Angela Smith, Minister for the Third Sector, said:
“I am pleased to be able to announce that over 500
charities and voluntary organisations will today receive grants of up
to £40,000 to help them deliver vital support to hundreds of
people in their communities facing difficulties during the economic
downturn.
“In the last six months alone, we have offered help to over 1,600
frontline organisations worth a total of £16.7m, but the real
help for those voluntary organisations facing serious challenges
doesn’t stop there. We will continue to offer unprecedented
support to the sector through the major initiatives launched in the
Action Plan ‘Real Help for Communities’.”
The Action Plan ‘Real Help for Communities’ included a targeted
package of support to sustain voluntary organisations through the economic
downturn and build on the Government’s long-term commitment to the
third sector, which includes voluntary organisations and social
enterprises.
