COMMUNITY groups across Warwickshire who have been working to support and reduce the impact of Covid shared their successes at a recent celebration event.
The groups involved all received grants from Warwickshire County Council via an application process where they showed how they would use the funding to support their local communities and the event was a chance to showcase the results.
A total of £315,000 was awarded to 34 projects across the county between 2021 and 2023, helping to provide equipment, facilities, location hire and supporting staff and volunteers.
During the celebration event, groups were able to come together and showcase their community projects, create networking links and share their learnings. Watch videos from the groups and find out more about the work they do in their community.
Talking about the funding, a spokesperson for Otra Cosa Network said: “We used the funding to support projects for the Latin American community, this included; exercise classes, gardening, arts and crafts classes. The classes are held by and for Latinas and we speak Spanish, Portuguese and English.
“We want to bring people from the community together, giving them a chance to meet other people, speak their common language and overall help to boost their mental health. We started with only 15 members and now we have 130 members.”
A representative from Sahil Project added: “We support the South Asian community and work to combat isolation and reduce those feelings of loneliness that people felt post Covid. We hold wellbeing activities in the community, for example, we run a yoga session with a South Asian instructor, this means there aren’t any language barriers which has helped the group grow to one of the biggest that we have.
“We also have our Combat Isolation groups – these are held on a Monday and Friday as we know that many people whose families have moved out of the home find that they live by themselves and feel quite lonely at the weekend, so they now have these groups to look forward to either side of the weekend to help them feel more connected.”
WCC adult social care and health spokeswoman Coun Margaret Bell, said: “We want our residents to be safe, healthy and independent. The great work of these community groups helps to reduce the impact from the Covid pandemic and to support these priorities.
“Almost 5,000 people and 49 different nationalities and religions across Warwickshire have been supported by these community groups who work hard to bring people together, learn new skills, make connections and improve their wellbeing.”
To find out more about the groups across Warwickshire, visit the Impact Grant funding pages for details of all the successful groups – click here
