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Press release |
Ref:PRHP018 Date: 26th July 2021
Support for community groups from leading local housing provider
Housing Plus Group has awarded grants of almost £30,000 to community groups supporting the people and families most affected by the pandemic and successive lockdowns.
In response to the pandemic, Housing Plus Group in association with Jewson created a COVID-19 Community Fund which awarded emergency grants of up to £2,000. It has now been announced that a total of £27,657 has been donated to 15 local groups working in Stafford, Stone, South Staffordshire and Shropshire.
Food banks, hospices, work clubs and organisations helping people to stay connected are among those to have benefitted from the grants. Donations went to organisations including House of Bread, Stone Community Hub, Katharine House Hospice and The Youth Net.
In Stafford, one of the organisations receiving a grant from the Covid-19 Community Fund was Signposts-Services. Liz Dipple, who manages their foodbank from Rising Brook Baptist Church, explained what it meant for them:
"The grant came at a crucial time when the numbers of people accessing the foodbank had quadrupled and we were also supplying food for 50 families from a nearby school," she explained.
"We were particularly grateful as we received not only funding but also practical help from a Housing Plus Group employee who volunteered to take out food deliveries. This support enabled us to scale up our operations in this key role in the community."
Another recipient of the grant funding was Support Staffordshire, which offers support to Voluntary Community Sector organisations. The community connectors in South Staffordshire are all volunteers who act as a link in their community to residents, groups and charities.
Anne Ross is senior locality officer in this area: "Connecting our communities across South Staffordshire has proved so valuable and the generous donation from Housing Plus Group has made a remarkable difference to the project.
"Our Community Volunteer Connectors have gained confidence in knowing they are making an impact and improving people's lives in their communities across the five localities in South Staffordshire."
Sarah Boden is Chief Executive of Housing Plus Group. She explained that the crisis fund had been part of a range of support provided to customers, staff and the wider community during the pandemic: "As one of the leading not-for-profit employers in the area, we have a responsibility to make a positive difference. For us, that meant ensuring that our staff could work differently to maintain essential services during the last 12 months. We made more than 38,000 reassurance calls to people experiencing social isolation and provided vital money advice to customers whose finances had been affected by COVID-19. The pandemic placed community organisations under huge additional pressure and together with Jewson, we were delighted to be able to help in a crisis."
Housing Plus Group continues to offer support to charities, voluntary groups and organisations in Staffordshire and Shropshire through its My Community Sponsorship Fund.
Applications to the fund can be made on the Group's website:https://housingplusgroup.co.uk/sponsorship
Caption for PIC REF: HPG21107PR:
Housing Plus Group's Gavin McAlister (centre) is pictured helping Liz Dipple (L) and Karen Wardell (R) of Rising Brook Church, as they prepare to make foodbank deliveries.
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Background for editors
Housing Plus Group
Housing Plus Group is a Charitable Community Benefit Society providing 18,000 quality, affordable homes and care services that customers can trust across Shropshire and Staffordshire. As one of the largest affordable housing providers in the area, the Group is a major investor in communities and employs more than 900 people.
Housing Plus Group is addressing the housing crisis by starting to build 2,000 new homes for rent, shared ownership and outright sale by 2023. The Group has pledged to deliver one-third more hours of care and support for older people in their own homes and to create apprenticeship opportunities for 100 people in the Group and its supply chain within five years.
Housing Plus Group members include South Staffordshire Housing Association, Severnside Housing, Stafford and Rural Homes, Care Plus and Severn Homes.
Its members are inspired by the CLARITY values which are the foundations of its work: Communication, Learning, Accountable, Respectful, Inclusive, Trust and YOU.
Further information
Mara Hargreaves
Head of marketing and communications
m:07800 619 863
e:mara.hargreaves@housingplusgroup.co.uk
Clare Chick
Marketing and communications officer
m: 07950 254 279
e:clare.chick@housingplusgroup.co.uk
Martin Farrow
CHANGEWORKS Communications
t: + 44 (0) 1785 247588
m: +44 (0)7771 970025
e: mfarrow@changeworkscom.co.uk