GRANTS totalling £149,000 from Dorset Community Foundation will help 39 smaller charities and voluntary groups running projects tackling social problems including poverty, disability and isolation.
Its Neighbourhood Fund targets smaller groups and charities working in communities to help make life better for people with grants of up to £5,000.
Among the recipients of its latest round of funding is The Absolute Music Trust in Bournemouth, which received £5,000 to continue running therapeutic music sessions for people struggling with their mental health.
“This project reduces isolation by bringing people together with a common aim of making music, an activity that has positive impacts on the way they feel and interact with each other,” said manager Lucy Roberts.
“Friendships have developed and are maintained through the project, helping the participants to form more sustainable, fulfilled lives, reducing the likelihood of deepening isolation and increased severe mental episodes.”
Artsreach is using a £5,000 grant towards setting up four hubs in rural areas for over 65s and those with dementia to attend daytime arts events. The likely locations are Blandford or Sturminster Newton in north Dorset, Martinstown or Drimpton in the west, Swanage and Sixpenny Handley or Canford in the east of the county.
“We hope these hubs will give people a regular daytime social event that will relieve their sense of social isolation through the location and inclusiveness of the events,” said Development Officer Kerry Bartlett. “We hope that carers will equally be able to look forward to monthly events that give them joy.”
Bridport Foodbank has been awarded a £2,500 grant to help plug the gap left by a shortfall in food donations. Treasurer Lisa Pinch said the grant will be used to buy food and toiletries. “This grant will help us to provide more food parcels during this busy time,” she said. “Grant funding helps to make up for shortfalls in donated goods, and to ensure a good supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. We try to provide a consistent and reliable basic quantity of goods in our food parcels.”
This grant will help us to provide more food parcels during this busy time
Dorchester Men’s Shed will use a £3,000 grant to upgrade its equipment after it failed a health and safety inspection on its air quality last summer. Secretary Andrew Rennison said that although the shed subsequently passed another inspection shortly after, the group has to make improvements.
“Some remedies are achieved through management action, which is in hand,” he said. “Others require modernisation of the table saw and the purchase of better dust extraction equipment.”
Dorset Lavender Farm at Sturminster Newton has been awarded a £4,800 grant to improve the pathways between its car park and welcome garden, vegetable plot, flower garden, polytunnels and polebarn so they can be used more easily by volunteers with disabilities.
“The range of volunteer experiences currently available at DLFP can be expanded with the new pathways,” said project leader Jo O’Connell. “For many isolated or anxious people the sense of peaceful working is vital to their wellbeing. The sense of ‘belonging to the team’ is the most positive benefit to volunteering.”
A £5,0000 grant will help Helpful Hounds Assistance Dogs in Bournemouth to continue its work in schools with pupils, including those with autism, Downs Syndrome, learning difficulties and anxiety.
Volunteer CEO Peter Rufus said the group’s specially trained dogs help calm youngsters and give them confidence while working with them in one-to-one and group sessions. He said: “Assistance dogs create a soothing atmosphere, promoting a positive learning environment and reducing stress levels for teachers and staff, enabling them to support students more effectively.”
Dorset Community Foundation Chief Executive Grant Robson said: “We are very grateful to our donors, whose generosity means 39 groups across Dorset will be able to continue their amazing work supporting their communities.
“All of the groups who have received funding have annual costs of less than £250,000, and many of them are under £50,000, so while these grants are relatively small, the funding means they can continue with vital projects that add real value to peoples’ lives and impact them in an incredibly positive way.”
Pictured above: Dorchester Men’s Shed, left, an Artsreach event and a volunteer at Bridport Foodbank
