2023 was a hectic year with several different streams of work helping to make positive impacts on our community. Whether it was increasing our youth provision, helping refugees, or supporting our local sports clubs, the main theme throughout was Cost of Living. As you may have seen, it’s been front and centre of our website all year, even while we were promoting other things. We will continue to blog about it and provide stats from the organisations and charities we work with. This will help identify areas of need and ensure we are targeting our support to where it is most in need.
Cost of Living
As we enter 2024, we are still fully focussed on this area, the issues have by no means gone away, in fact the data is saying it’s continuing to get worse. “Inflation is coming down” however it’s still rising – just more slowly; energy prices have just gone up as well as train fares, insurance and food. Families are continuing to feel the pressure. We’ve been working closely with West Berkshire Council to expand the remit of our joint Cost of Living Fund to further support frontline charities. Meaning that increase in demand in existing services is now eligible for a grant as well as any new projects which have been identified. This is a significant change as local charities are getting busier with not just increased demand on their services but families and individuals coming to them with more complex needs.
Rough Sleeper Provision
We’ve also been working with the Rough Sleeper and Housing team at West Berks Council, and several frontline charities on improving the rough sleeper provision, helping those who do not fall under statutory provision. We can only help those who want help, but helping people get a roof over their heads this winter and get them back on track is helping to make a real difference. In West Berkshire this winter, anyone who is desperate need of a warm safe space, a bed and a roof over their head can have one. A massive thank you to Sheepdrove Trust who partnered with Greenham Trust on this initiative and Sandra Foundation who also supported.
Bringing local charities together on projects like this make us greater than the sum of our parts. Each brings their own unique expertise to help solve problems and make a difference. The teams running these initiatives do not shout from the hilltops but are driven and dedicated and we are so lucky to have them in our midst. So, thank you West Berkshire Council, Loose Ends, Newbury Community Resource Centre, West Berkshire Homeless, Newbury Soup Kitchen, & West Berks Foodbank.