The final round of grant funding to support health and wellbeing amongst Warwickshire’s ethnically diverse communities has been announced by Warwickshire County Council.
Community groups across Warwickshire can apply for the grant and must focus on at least one of the following areas to help improve community health and wellbeing:
- Reducing social isolation
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Unemployment
- Physical health
The previous rounds of grant funding have supported a range of community groups across Warwickshire. Otra Cosa Network, based in Warwick, received grant funding to support their Latin American community allotment, bringing together the Hispanic community with a focus on breaking down barriers to accessing services, such as health, mental wellbeing, vaccination uptake and employment. The activities include information sharing workshops, gardening, cooking, exercise classes and providing a safe space for people in the community to socialise.
Mariella Romanach from Otra Cosa explained:
“We used the grant funding to help purchase equipment for our community allotment. The allotment has provided the group with a project where we have all learnt how to cultivate vegetables, we even created our raised beds from upcycled wood and have been able to help the wider community by purchasing any equipment from local independent suppliers.
“We even encouraged the children to get involved and they helped us to plant our lettuces into the ground.
“The group has provided a sense of community among Hispanic families, we have been able to share experiences, for example, talking about family bereavement particularly due to COVID, and many have family further away and are able to support one another through shared experiences.
“Working together has really given us all a sense of achievement and helped to lift the spirits of the group members.”
Councillor Margaret Bell, portfolio holder for Adult Social Care and Health said:
“Supporting health and wellbeing is incredibly important following the COVID pandemic and now as we see increased pressures from the rising cost of living. Improving wellbeing in our communities, especially for those who have been more adversely affected, is a key priority and this funding will enable local groups to help people they support.”
The most recent annual report from Warwickshire’s Director of Public Health highlighted the negative impact of COVID upon the county’s ethnically diverse communities so the council is offering the final share of a £325,000 funding to address this and make improvements to health.
For more information on the grants including information on how to apply and community groups who have received funding from the previous rounds, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/impactgrant
All applications should be submitted online at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/impactgrant by 11:00pm on Sunday 16 October.