£2m aid for former mining communities

Funding has been secured to help former mining towns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust has been awarded £1million from the Government’s Community Match Challenge Scheme.

Matching the award, the Trust has created a £2million fund to be used to support its COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund and its Coalfields Food Insecurity Fund.

Officials aim to help 200 small-to-medium voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

Andy Lock, Head of Operations (England) for the Coalfields RegenerationTrust,said: “When lockdown hit, we knew that our communities would once again be disproportionately impacted, bearing the brunt of the economic and social challenges.

"Forty two percent of coalfield neighbourhoods are in the most deprived thirty percent in Britain and still face significant social, economic and health challenges.

“Recognising that important and urgent support was desperately needed, we quickly established our Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund and the Coalfields Food Insecurity Fund.

"While both have been a huge success in providing much-needed financial support, we simply haven’t been able to meet demand.

“The Community Match Challenge Scheme from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has presented a lifeline; not only will it help our support go further, but it will address the longer term challenges that our communities face in light of the ongoing pandemic.”

For more information, visit www.coalfields-regen.org.uk and for regular updates, follow @CoalfieldsRegen on Twitter.