Doncaster and Barnsley charities have been chosen to receive thousands in Government funding to tackle loneliness through community engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ‘Know Your Neighbourhood Fund’ (KYN) will run until March 2025 and will help local residents and their communities in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bob Dowling, 66, the development manager at Opencast C.I.C, a charity working with different demographic and age groups, and one of the beneficiaries of this fund, is particularly worried about how older people often tend to get overlooked by society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: “Once we’re nearly dead, we’re not important anymore because we’re not economically important anymore, and unfortunately we live in a world where that’s the prime concern.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having been allocated nearly \u00a345,000, It will use KYN to help people discover all of the resources available to them through a digital directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosemary Macdonald, the CEO of UK Community Foundations, believes the KYN will shed a light on the issues impacting volunteering and social inclusion, particularly in vulnerable regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: “Loneliness can impact anyone at any time in any community, and the work of voluntary organisations to reduce isolation and loneliness has been in higher demand since the pandemic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Doncaster Ethnic Minority Regeneration Partnership (DEMRP), a charity fostering social and economic regeneration among Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community groups, is another beneficiary of this fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DEMRP will put its share of the funding towards the delivery of digital inclusion services and well-being sessions reaching nearly 150 hard-to-reach individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter Singh, the Chief Executive at DEMRP, said: “Not having English as your first language, cultural barriers and lack of community support doubly hinders integration and communication which results in deep-set social isolation, loneliness, and frustration.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n