We are pleased to announce that, with some of the money raised through the Islington Giving Crisis Fund, we have so far been able to fund four organisations in Islington.
The first wave of funding was for grants of up to £5,000 for urgent needs with a focus on food and other essentials and the organisations are:
The Manna (£5,000 awarded) is a day centre for homeless and marginalised people in Islington. As well as day centre facilities (shower, laundry, food) they provide small group activities (gardening, poetry, art, walking, culture) and one-to-one support and advocacy. The fund will go towards food, phones, and power banks to sustain rough sleepers until they get into accommodation.
Islington Mind (£5,000 awarded) support people in Islington who have long term health problems and who face multiple disadvantages. These include poverty and risk of destitution, racism or homophobia, abuse and harassment. In combination with severe, complex and ongoing mental health problems these factors can be devastating. With the outbreak of Covid-19, these people are especially vulnerable. Islington Mind aim to use the money to provide emergency grants to individuals, responding to the very immediate basic needs this crisis has triggered.
The Hive Food Bank (£5,000 awarded) is an independent food bank in Islington, established for the relief of poverty, financial hardship or distress by providing emergency food relief to individuals and families experiencing crisis situations, whether long or short-term. During Covid-19 they are developing relationships with local shops to try and ensure food supplies are met, since they’re unable to place any supermarket deliveries, which are usually their main source of food supplies.
Hillside Clubhouse (£1,120 awarded) offer rehabilitation and wellbeing support with a focus on mainstream social inclusion for people with mental health problems in the borough. The fund will go towards the purchase of mobile phones and data plans in order to provide support and virtual services to clients.
Thanks to all your generous contributions to the Islington Giving Crisis Fund, vulnerable people in Islington will have much more support during these difficult times. Thanks to the generosity of residents, businesses and our funders, there is still over £200,000 in the fund, which will be distributed as soon as possible in the weeks and months ahead.
Our programme team is busy reading through more applications to award grants to more organisations in Islington in wave 2 of the funding. You can learn more about the funding that is available and apply or you can read the interview with Anne Shewring, Islington Giving’s Programme Director, to learn more about our response to Covid-19.
Please consider giving to our Islington Giving Crisis Fund or sharing the information with your contacts thank you, Islington!
