Help for Hampshire's voluntary and community organisations

Monday, 28 January 2013

Voluntary organisations and charities providing support for elderly and vulnerable people and their carers will benefit from over £1.4 million in grants for 2013/14 from Hampshire County Council.

More than one in five (22%) of the grants will fund projects that did not receive funding last year - a significant proportion of which is to support people with autism, in line with the County Council's new Autism Strategy launched in September 2012.

Grants are awarded to help services that are better provided by the voluntary sector and meet Adult Services' aims and objectives, as well as through consultation with Hampshire residents. These aims and objectives include early intervention and prevention, protecting vulnerable people and maximising independence.

The grants were approved by Councillor Felicity Hindson, Executive Member for Adult Social Care at her Decision Day meeting on 25 January.

Cllr Hindson said: "With the continuing challenges of the economic climate, it is good news that we are to able to continue supporting a wide range of voluntary and community organisations and charities giving grants alongside the contracted services they provide in the community. We recognise the value of services delivered by these organisations and have not reduced the amount of support we give them, as the grants not only make a real difference to the community by keeping people independent for as long as possible, they also help maintain stability in the voluntary sector.

"Volunteers also have an increasingly important role in the support provided to their local community. In 2013/14 our Adult Services grants programme could potentially involve up to 5,300 volunteers and provide extra benefits worth £1.7 million in salary costs, based on one volunteer offering an hour a week for a year, at a national minimum wage rate of £6.19.

"This year there has been considerable pressure on the grants programme budget, which has been oversubscribed. We are funding projects that are most closely linked to our aims and objectives but we have also considered how to help people who may have difficulty accessing mainstream services, including a project to support people from the gypsy and traveller community."

The distribution of grants has been broken down as follows:

• A total of £591,928 will be given to 40 voluntary and community organisations providing services and activities to vulnerable people and their carers in Hampshire, including key county wide partners such as Age Concern Hampshire, Good Neighbours Support Service and Brendoncare Clubs. All these agencies work with large numbers of Hampshire residents, supported by a significant volunteer involvement.
• £103,000 will be given to two organisations to support people infected with or affected by HIV - £87,000 for Positive Action and £16,000 for Groundswell. The grant for Positive Action will go towards the provision of specialist HIV support services across the county including 'drop-in' and outreach services provided from bases in Aldershot, Southampton and Portsmouth. The grant for Groundswell will be used to help deliver specialist home-based HIV services across the south of the county - these are largely provided by trained volunteers and are believed to be unique to Hampshire.
• £727,300 between 18 organisations supporting people with learning disabilities and their carers, including projects that have enabled people to move into accommodation in the community and advocacy for those who use residential respite and day services across Hampshire.

The total amount being awarded is £1,422,228. An additional £100,000 per year for three years will be given to Southampton Centre for Independent Living, a user led organisation that will take the lead in Hampshire to help develop and provide infrastructure to other user led organisations.

• For a full list of the organisations view the papers for the Adult Services Decision Day

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