Community project Sheppey Matters has been awarded a grant of £17,000 from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales.
The charity’s grant comes at a critical time as Swale Council is set to cut £4 million from its budget over the next financial year and Kent County Council tries to save £95 million. Funding for charitable services is being cut across the country, with council grants, contracts and private funding becoming harder for charities to obtain.
Based in the Sheppey Healthy Living Centre in Sheerness, the charity provides a range of projects and facilities to the community including cookery and healthy living classes, a mini bus service, after school clubs and a drug and alcohol education programme.
The charity’s two year grant will help fund the salary of two part-time youth workers who will be responsible for running an evening activity club aimed at children and young people with physical and learning disabilities.
Nigel Martin is the Manager at Sheppey Matters, he says: “The activity club has been set up in response to a consultation with local parents who told us there was a lack of services for disabled children in the area. This funding from the Lloyds TSB Foundation will help us provide up to 30 young people who attend the club every evening with the opportunity to socialise and participate in enjoyable activities, so they feel less isolated and more independent.”
Emma Tregear is the Grant Manager at Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales in the region, she says: “The huge cuts being made by the council will have an immense impact on the charity sector across Kent. The Foundation has already seen a sharp increase in the number of charities applying for funding across the board and in this our 25th anniversary year, we are committed to investing in charities throughout Kent, such as Sheppey Matters, that are making a real impact on the lives of disadvantaged and isolated people. In 2010 the Foundation invested £2.26 million primarily in core costs, such as salaries, to charities working across the area.”
