Despite all that is going on, last week ended on a high for me as we gave out our first round in emergency funding to charities across the UK. Thanks to the support of the industry, our campaign partners and all of you who have taken on ridiculous challenges for us in the past few weeks, we were able to give out over £100,000 in our first round of funding.
As Head of Programmes and Impact at LandAid, this is why I get out of bed in the morning, even if now I only have to crawl to my living room for work. Every penny of these grants has gone directly to frontline charities supporting young people who are homeless, and every penny will make a huge difference to the lives of these young people.
For our first round I wanted to tell you about a couple of these grants.
The Albert Kennedy Trust
We gave the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), who work exclusively with LGBTQ+ young homeless people, a grant of £5,000. This money will be split across the AKT’s operating regions and ensure that their teams are able to support their young people to buy food, essentials, mobile phone credit and fund emergency accommodation
AKT reports that the pandemic is having a huge effect on their clients. Some young LGBTQ+ desperately need to leave their accommodation through fear of violence or abuse. And for many, who have already left their homes, they need extra support and guidance to help them through this time.
The Amber Foundation
The Amber Foundation supports homeless young people to rebuild their lives through a structured residential programme, and since the pandemic broke they’ve seen an increased demand for their services. LandAid’s grant of £7,103 will provide two, much needed, extra bed spaces for homeless young people who would otherwise be sleeping rough or in unsuitable accommodation.
YMCA Dulverton Group
Many of the young people the YMCA Dulverton Group supports have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, many of them were in unstable employment, on zero hours contracts or employed in the hospitality or retail industries. This means that many of the are not working now and are being pushed into further poverty.
LandAid’s grant of £8,820 will enable YMCA Dulverton to provide food parcels and shopping for those isolating, ensuring that they can feed themselves a healthy, balanced diet and importantly that they are able to stick to social distancing rules.
What’s next
This is just our first lot of emergency funding and we’ll be giving out grants every week throughout our appeal.
Sean