More than £100,000 has been awarded to good causes in the Furness area, including combating loneliness, helping people recover from debt, and providing activities for young people.
Cumbria Community Foundation awarded the funds to 12 community organisations, with two people receiving a share of £3,500 to increase sporting and artistic achievement.
The money came from funds set up by local people and businesses including the Barrow Community Trust Fund, the Cumbria Young People’s Fund and the Kirkby Moor Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund.
Helping to relieve loneliness in the community, Age UK Barrow and District received £10,000 from the Pappagallino Fund to relaunch its community-based social groups and activities, which were forced to stop during the pandemic.
The charity offers a range of services for the elderly including sessions for those who have very limited interaction with family and friends in rural areas.
Vickie Martin, head of Age UK Barrow & District, said: “Lockdown has affected older people significantly and many people have struggled with their mental and physical health throughout the pandemic.
“By relaunching social groups and gentle exercise sessions, it will help people to improve their physical health and mobility and start to reconnect with friends in a social setting, helping to improve the impact that isolation and loneliness has had on so many people during the last 18 months.”
Age UK Barrow and District also received a further £20,000 to continue running its befriending service.
Meanwhile Youthability Youth Services & Walney Community Centre, a new initiative set up to provide support to young people who are socially isolated, received £5,000 from the Cumbria Young People’s Fund.
Other fund awardees included Spring Mount Christian Fellowship, who received £27,000 from the Cumbria Fund and the Cumberland Building Society Community Fund to help people struggling to control their finances over the next three years.
For more information about Cumbria Community Foundation, how to support local charities through them or to apply for a grant, visit www.cumbriafoundation.org or call 01900 825760.
