Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland scales up its impactful and emergency frontline work after securing a significant funding boost from The National Lottery Coronavirus Community Support Fund.
Since 2012, Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland has been tackling a wide range of social issues including loneliness, homelessness, food inequality and other life-challenges faced by children and families. During the Coronavirus crisis, the charity has stepped up to meet the growing needs of local people, churches and communities in an area of the country which is one of the most adversely affected by the pandemic, expanding its emergency work to help even more vulnerable and socially-isolated communities to cope and sustain themselves. Now, Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland has secured funding from The National Lottery Coronavirus Community Support Fund to further scale up and continue its vital work helping local people and organisations to thrive.
The emergency COVID-19 grant from HM Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) through The National Lottery Community Fund will allow Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland to continue to weather the ongoing crisis. Equipped with funding, the charity will keep providing crucial food and social support alongside the churches, and faith and the community organisations it works with. The charity has also formed a collaborative partnership with the social enterprise Civil Society Consulting (CSC) which will assist with marketing, community engagement and strategic support.
The Lottery grant will also support social action research to highlight the positive personal and community stories and experiences from the pandemic, as well as the views and associated concerns of the front line organisations that Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland works with. Through this community engagement, the charity will capture the wider faith and community’s ideas for further local action and social solidarity moving forward.
The Chief Officer of Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland, Kathryn Jeffels said of the grant:
“We are very grateful to have received this funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund. We want to thank The National Lottery Community Fund and HM Government Department for Digital, Media, Culture, & Sport (DCMS) for providing this critical support at this time. This will enable us to continue to be here for the people, churches, and community organisations who have depended on our services during the pandemic.”
The Right Reverend Paul Ferguson, Bishop of Whitby and Chair of Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland commented:
“The Coronavirus crisis continues to challenge us all. Locally, we have seen how well communities have come together, showing us all what we can do to help each other through the pandemic. It brings out the best in people and within faith communities, and many community solutions have been found during lockdown – we need to build further on this. Our charity has increased its activities to tackle child poverty and reduce social isolation all made that much worse by the crisis.”
Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland’s dedication to community cohesion and social justice is exemplified by the support that it provides to local people and communities; a lifeline for many marginalised and vulnerable people. Middlesbrough is the most income-deprived area in the country; in 2018, 41 percent of children were living in poverty. Afflicted with stark health inequalities, Middlesbrough is in one of the areas where people are at the highest risk of infection and the highest at risk of dying from COVID-19. Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland has been bridging this gap in social provision through a range of projects in its capacity as a development agency for 45 faith community organisations, churches and community groups. Some of these key projects, which will be strengthened by the emergency funding provided, are:
- Feast of Fun: Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland coordinates a holiday hunger support programme for vulnerable families during the school holidays. Working with around 40 local groups, churches, and organisations, by the end of 2020 it will have delivered food and activity resources to around 3,800 children and provided over 68,000 meals.
- Positive Pathways: Using a relational approach to working with the homeless, and those at risk of becoming homeless, Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland works with faith organisations and delivery partner Depaul to reach around 300 beneficiaries every year.
- Warm Welcome: One of the goals of Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland is to reduce social isolation, and this project works with 300 people and 18 groups to establish and develop places of welcome to reduce social isolation for the over 50s. During the pandemic, this has been converted to a telephone befriending service.
- Food & Friendship: As part of the Ageing Better programme, this project establishes and develops regular groups that meet for food and friendship. Food & Friendship also aims to reduce social isolation for those over 50. Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland works with 100 people in 10 groups and like the Warm Welcome project, Food & Friendship has been adapted during the pandemic to provide a telephone befriending service.
Using the funding
With the new grant, Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland can now expand the remit of the remarkable work it has been doing with local groups and social action leaders. A portion of TNL funding will be used to produce a highly impactful piece of community engagement and social action research, reflecting the recent COVID-19 related experiences of the communities in which they work, showcasing the generous responses of faith communities and how important these are in a wider civil society context.
This work will be carried out with the support of CSC, who will also produce a BAME, Faith, & Community COVID-19 Impact Survey. Middlesbrough is the most diverse town in the Tees Valley, and COVID-19 has had a disproportionately negative impact on BAME communities. Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland is currently working on developing its work with BAME communities to support both Christian, and other faith, organisations.
- About Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland
Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland is a not-for-profit, faith-based organisation that works with churches and the community to tackle poverty and the challenges that local people face. Established in 2012, it is a joint venture with the Diocese of York and the Church Urban Fund (CUF) and works across Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland. To date, Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland has worked with more than 20 churches and supported over 2000 vulnerable children, young people and their families over Summer 2020 alone. Together Middlesbrough & Cleveland is part of the Together Network, a nationwide community and faith-driven alliance of 21 partnerships between the Church of England Diocese and CUF.