Former coalfields in Wakefield district set to benefit from £1 million grant

A charity that supports former coal mining communities has been award a £1m grant from the government.
Andy LockAndy Lock
Andy Lock

Matching the award pound for pound, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust has created a £2 million fund to be used to support its Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund and its

Coalfields Food Insecurity Fund.

A new Regional Impact Fund is also being created to provide higher value grant support forexemplar projects.

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The fund will help 200 small-to-medium voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, including within the Wakefield district, helping them respond to emerging needs caused by Covid-19.

Andy Lock, head of operations (England) for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, said: “When lockdown hit, we knew that our communities would once again be disproportionately impacted, bearing the brunt of the economic and social challenges.

"Forty two percent of coalfield neighbourhoods are in the most deprived thirty percent in Britain and still face significant social, economic and health challenges.

“Recognising that important and urgent support was desperately needed, we quickly established our Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund and the Coalfields Food Insecurity

Fund.

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"While both have been a huge success in providing much-needed financial support, we simply haven’t been able to meet demand.

“The Community Match Challenge Scheme from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has presented a lifeline; not only will it help our support go further, but it will

address the longer term challenges that our communities face in light of the ongoing pandemic.”

The funds will be distributed through an application process and submissions will be welcomed from projects that support individuals from across the Wakefield area.

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To date, the projects that the Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund and the Coalfields

Food Insecurity Fund have supported have been vast. They have helped those addressing mental health issues, tackling food poverty, supporting children, young people and the

vulnerable including those with disabilities and victims of domestic abuse.

In each instance funds have helped to strengthen these organisations by purchasing essential equipment and improving their capacity to deliver and to meet with growing

demand for services.

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Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Barran, said: "It is a privilege to be working with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust to double their fundraising efforts and get £2 million to frontline charities that need it.

"I know this funding will make a huge difference, from supporting people's mental health to tackling food insecurity.

The Community Match Challenge is part of the £750 million government investment to back charities during the pandemic so they can continue to do their vital work helping

vulnerable people."

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is one of 19 organisations that will receive a share of £85 million, as part of the unprecedented £750 million Government package to help frontline

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charities and those they support during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has led the allocation of funding to support charitiesproviding key services to help vulnerable people during the crisis.

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