52 helped by crisis project
STUART PIKE freepressnews@menmedia.co.uk @RossFreePress
ANEW lotteryfunded project to support people in a hardship crisis has already assisted 52 clients in its first three months.
The five-year Rossendale Crisis Support Project is funded by £420,000 from the Big Lottery and is run by Citizens’ Advice Rossendale in partnership with Bacup Family Centre.
A project launch was held at Rossendale council’s chambers at Futures Park, Bacup.
Nearly 40 representatives of different partner agencies, including children’s centres, councillors, firefighters and Veterans In Communities were present.
Chief officer Rachel Whippy explained that the charity had previously had two years of Lottery funding, but when the project ended it was realised more work needed to be done.
She said: “We realised that we needed to develop a project to support people to be able to help themselves to resolve the issues that caused the hardship.
“People need help to deal with the immediate crisis, which could be food or money to ensure heating, but the long term problems need to also be looked at.”
Partner organisations are being offered awareness training so they are better able to identify people who are in need of assistance, know how to access relevant services and are better able to offer support.
All the partners have a direct number to contact the project officers so that immediate help can be obtained for anyone in crisis.
Leila Allen, Bacup Family Centre manager, said: “We want to break the circle that people in hardship find themselves in. We want to make it into a spiral for change and stop this. Not to have money, heating and a home is scary and it is even scarier if it is not just an individual but a family that is affected.”
The success of previous lottery-funded Citizens’ Advice projects in Rossendale led to local officers being invited to attend round table discussions in London on how future projects could be developed.
Project co-ordinator Christine Flood said: “We want to reduce the number of clients who end up having to come back to Citizens’ Advice at a later stage because they find themselves in the same situation.”
Anyone who is facing a hardship crisis can get help by contacting the Citizens’ Advice on 0300 456 2552.