We are celebrating a landmark award by The National Lottery Community Fund – the largest community funder in the UK – which will help to underwrite our community work over the next five years. A sum just short of £500,000 to be paid over 5 years has been granted to The Fed to contribute to the running costs of two of our existing Community Services Projects: its Community Advice and Support Team (CAST) and its Volunteer Services Team.

These projects support Jewish people of any age living in their own homes in Greater Manchester. Four core posts will be funded by the grant, which will also cover a new initiative to be run by Volunteers Services Team, to help counter social isolation. Dalia Kaufman who heads up the team explained:

“Currently we offer to set people up with a regular volunteer befriender who will visit them or take them out, and we can also invite people to join our monthly coffee-stops in north and south Manchester. These attract on average 75 people in north and South Manchester each time and have grown hugely in popularity.

“But for some people such a large crowd can be a bit overwhelming. So, we came up with the idea of “mini-stops” which will work by coordinating a couple of volunteers with four or five people to go out together for a drink and to chat. People enjoy getting together with a few others and the conversation often flows more easily than on a one-to-one. We’re delighted that we will now be able to get this off the ground.”

The main body of the grant will help us at The Fed continue to provide:

  • support to people in times of urgent need, such as homelessness, mental health crisis, poverty or domestic and sexual abuse.
  • information, advice and support to help people live independently in their own homes, or to access benefits and grants.
  • services to relieve loneliness and social isolation (as referred to earlier) and to aid mental wellbeing through individual support, befriending and groups.
  • services to help children develop and thrive such as Project Smile Play & Learn groups and holiday camps, Mums ‘n’ Tots sessions and individual parental support and guidance.
  • support for people who are caring for a loved one, including enabling them to take a break from their responsibilities.

The charity’s Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications, Raphi Bloom, however, was at pains to explain that:

“Although this is a highly significant grant, there can be no room for complacency. Whilst being immensely grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund for endorsing our work so generously, we must keep at the forefront of our minds the fact that our annual fundraising target is £2.5 million – £1.5 million in respect of the running of Heathlands Village and £1 million in respect of our community services.

“£95,000 per annum will indeed ensure the funding of crucial work by four members of staff in our community services teams, but we continue to seek a wide range of funding support to guarantee that we can continue to provide a robust safety net for our community.”

With thanks to all players of The National Lottery.