Up to £80,000 is being made available to groups on the Isle of Wight to help deliver projects that tackle social isolation or support access to employment.
The Isle of Wight Foundation, funded by the organisations behind Island Roads, is offering grants of between £3,000 and £16,000 for eligible projects.
To date, the foundation has donated more than half a million pounds to worthwhile causes, from new minibuses to help keep communities connected to IT equipment to keep people connected or help them access online training.
The areas of support chosen by the foundation when Island Roads was first formed seven years ago are more relevant today than ever. With the effects of the pandemic impacting our community, reaching out and supporting isolated members of society and helping people to learn new skills has never been more important.
Philip Horton, chairman of the Isle of Wight Foundation, said: “The events of the past year have shown that even though people have been able to adapt and do things differently due to Covid, there always remains a need to support schemes that encourage social inclusion. As we continue to live with the effects of the pandemic, our foundation is keen to support groups and charities which are working to connect people and prevent social isolation.
“We are looking forward to receiving applications for innovative projects that will make a big difference to people’s lives.”
One of the groups to receive funding from the Isle of Wight Foundation in the past is Osel Enterprises Ltd which delivers The Way Forward Programme – a day centre in Newport providing community support, training and employment for people with disabilities and autism living on the Island.
Its chief executive, Tracey Hill said: “We have received incredible support from the Isle of Wight Foundation, their grants have allowed us to make important changes to our centre to make it more accessible to our customers, many of whom have disabilities.
“As well as the funding, for which we are very grateful, as part of the support from the foundation we also received help from Island Roads which dedicated a member of staff to help with the projects. I would urge groups to apply for grants, our experience with the foundation has been hugely positive and we are very grateful for their support.”
As well as grant funding, eligible projects are supported by Island Roads employees who are given the opportunity to be project sponsors and give their time to share their specialist skills with grant recipients to help them deliver their projects.
Funding applications can be made from Monday 8 February until midday on Monday 7 May 2020.
Full eligibility criteria and details of the application process can be found in the Isle of Wight Foundation section of the Island Roads website www.islandroads.com.
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