Southern Water has awarded 3 additional Community Energy Grants across the Isle of Wight to support those in need this winter.
Since the scheme was launched in October, Southern Water have been inundated with applications for support with energy bills from community centres and pantries, homeless drop-in centres and arts centres – which provide a home to a wide range of events, support groups, classes, winter warmer spaces and befriender clubs.
This support will go towards energy costs, helping relieve the pressure that community spaces face staying open during winter months.
The centres that have been awarded the community grant this week are:
- Pan Together
- Newport Parish Centre
- The Veterans Hub
Pan Together provides community support along with a larder, providing fresh food and essentials twice a week along with a warm space where everyone is welcome for chatter and refreshments. A Community Café is also open and accessible to all four days a week along with providing a partnership with Adult Community Learning and runs Maths and English sessions along with an employability project. The organisation supports over 500 people a week and serves the East Newport Community.
Rachel Thomson, Pan Together’s Community Centre Manager, said:
“Receiving this community energy grant will make a real difference across our broad range of activities at Downside Community Centre and we appreciate Southern Water’s support tremendously.
“This funding will help us to continue to provide direct and vital support to local families and households in these grim and challenging times when the cost of living crisis is biting so very hard for so many”.
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Newport Parish Centre is a community hall which provides a hub and venue to a large range of people and groups daily. A warm hub is open to all every Friday morning, where anyone can have a warm drink free of charge. The hall is used by more than 3000 people every year.
Tamsin Overy from Newport Parish Centre said:
“Thanks to this very generous energy grant we can continue to support a great many community groups from across the Island, some of whom use the hall for free. It will allow us to absorb the increased energy costs, helping our warm hub to stay welcoming. Our hall supports youth organisations, which of course helps parents who are managing tight household budgets themselves.”
The Veterans Hub brings veterans out of isolation and loneliness by providing a safe and warm space to bring them together to socialise, engage and get any assistance they need. The hub is open Monday – Saturday and in the last 6 months, has supported 15000 veterans. The hub can provide users with a variety of help relating to finance, housing trauma, loneliness and well-being.
Southern Water’s Community Partnerships and Programme Manager, Alex Willumsen said:
“We know times are hard for many customers now, in the face of a cost-of-living crisis, so we are determined to do what we can to build resilience and support for those facing challenges in our community.”
For more information about how we can help anyone struggling this winter, visit our website.
perhaps the spongers at pan should get jobs – you know, support theirselves instead of leeching off the taxpayer
and seeing as southern water has money lying around, then they can cut the bills for the rest of us, that actually work and pay taxes