Poverty relief charity marks 40th birthday
COMMUNITY leaders have sent their congratulations and best wishes to a small charity that has been working quietly supporting people across West Lancashire and beyond to alleviate poverty for 40 years.
South West Lancashire Independent Community Advice Network (ICAN) which provides benefits, employment law and debt advice started on May 2, 1980 at the Ecumenical Centre in Skelmersdale Town Centre.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however, there have been good times when grant funding has meant that three or more advisers could be employed, but in other years funding has been hard to come by and the charity has struggled to get by.
For example in 2016, income for the whole year fell to £5,784 and it was only the dedication of volunteers, donations from the trades union movement and staff prepared to work without wages that kept the charity going.
All the work they do helps ordi?@?nary people to secure the benefits they are entitled to by rights, helping to reduce anxiety and severe financial insecurity for those least able to manage. And evidence shows that the funds secured for local residents goes straight back to support the local economy.
Last year alone, despite its tiny budget, ICAN still managed to secure over £1.8m in benefits for local residents.
Chairman of the board of trustees, Paul McConnell, said: “It really is a tribute to the resilience, skill, hard work, and effective grassroots support that ICAN has survived all these years and are again proving a necessity in this current turbulent period.
“Being able to respond to local needs has been ICAN’s great strength and relevance, diversity has also meant that the potential for a greater profile has not, until now, been possible.
“We now work alongside many local and national organisations supporting families and individuals ensuring they get the right help and support they deserve, for many this will mean being lifted out of poverty, their health and well-being being improved and their quality of life improved.
“And there aren’t many better rewards for the work we do than that.” The future looks bright for ICAN. A recent successful lottery bid has provided for two new advisers and a dedicated IT facilitator; and with new premises and a newly fitted office space, the organisation is going from strength to strength.
Details of all their work can be found on the website www.swlican. org