The schemes are:
- Happy Healing Hut working in Basingstoke, East Hampshire and Rushmoor – with qualified mental health professionals and counsellors volunteering to support vulnerable older people to regain confidence and emotional resilience after time spent in hospital.
- First Steps New Forest - working with the Settled Gypsy and Traveller Community to prevent homelessness and reconnect those who are homeless with their family and networks of support, particularly those with learning disabilities and people with existing social care support in place.
- Fawley Community Centre - funding bespoke equipment and training for local people from the Waterside Area of the New Forest to rebuild their physical fitness after a period in hospital following a stroke or fall.
- Basingstoke Neighbourcare – providing a community hub for older people and their carers in the Popley area, incorporating a weekly programme of events and activities focused on independent living skills and support for carers.
Approving the grants, Councillor Jan Warwick, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Younger Adults and Health and Wellbeing said: “We want to support people to live with the maximum possible independence by helping communities to come together and provide help and support to local people in a targeted and tailored way. Our one-off grants are specifically designed to kick start a project or programme – to help it get up and running and to find its feet independently in the long term. We are enormously grateful to Hampshire’s voluntary sector for the vital work they do to improve the lives of local people.”
