New charitable funding for Bailiwick charities

Monday 19 April 2021

A group of domestic abuse, employability support and mental health charities across the Channel Islands have received a share of £350,000.

The ten successful applicants from Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands have each received £35,000 to support their vital work.

The Bailiwick recipients are Alderney Mind, Carers Guernsey, Guernsey Caring for Ex-Offenders, Guernsey Employment Trust and Safer Guernsey. 

Jo Le Poidevin, Executive Director of Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, said the charities will be able to use the money as they best see fit to help make a difference to lives of the people they support. Each successful charity will have access to a Lloyds Banking Group mentor who will provide regular support "to help the charities achieve their organisational objectives."

“The aim of our 35 Grant Programme was to help our islands’ communities recover from Covid-19, and the chosen funding areas were those which the Foundation believed were particularly pertinent in helping that recovery," she said.

Pictured: Elaine Strappini, Employment Development Manager for Guernsey Employment Trust, said the impact of Covid-19 and two periods of lockdown has resulted in a record number of new referrals to our service. "With a growing waiting list, the generous award from Lloyds Bank Foundation will be invaluable to help us support more people out of unemployment, to find and maintain a job they love."

"As a Foundation, we continuously look at ways we can evolve and adapt in order to deliver the best support and achieve the greatest impact. Introducing the unrestricted funding allowed more flexibility in how the charities can use the funds, and will allow them to be more responsive, more agile and more forward-thinking.”

Commenting on the grant, Carers Guernsey Manager Alysa Martel said the funding gives the charity "some crucial breathing space to ensure continuity of service into 2022", when its previous grant funding will have run out.

"It means we can increase our support, for example hosting drop-ins, events, and extending our support in Alderney. We can continue to provide emotional and practical support responding to individual circumstances, intensively support carers in crisis, and campaign for carers' rights.”

Mary Hervé, Co-ordinator of Guernsey Caring for Ex-Offenders, said they will be able to extend and broaden what they are able to offer.

"This includes workshops in craft, furniture upcycling, sewing gardening and computer skills, together with various training sessions including interview skills, budgeting and cooking," she said. "These classes help individuals cope with anxiety, depression, feelings of low self-worth and social isolation.”

Pictured: Lisa Millan, Co-ordinator of Alderney Mind, said the funding "will enable us to keep supporting Alderney residents with 1:1 and group sessions that for some have become a big part of their lives. It will also ensure that we can provide Alderney with a recognised hub for mental wellbeing, allowing everyone to access information and support when it is needed which hasn’t previously been easily available.”

Naomi Wood, Frontline Services Manager & Independent Domestic Violence Advisor at Safer, said the charity provides vital and ever-increasing support.

"Referrals into all our services increase year on year, whether they come via other organisations or the individual themselves and of course lockdown also sadly further impacted on this and the call for our services," she said.

"This includes the maintaining of our IDVA, KIDVA, outreach and refuge services as well as our 24/7 helpline. We are also always looking to further develop and improve the services we can provide to those in our community and ways to better support them.”