The first wave of money raised by the National Emergencies Trust’s Coronavirus Appeal has been released in Hertfordshire, supporting charities and grassroots organisations most impacted by the crisis.
Grant-giving charity the Hertfordshire Community Foundation has been awarded £50,000 from the appeal, which was launched by the British Red Cross and is supported by the Duke of Cambridge.
The foundation is distributing the funds as grants to charities, to use to help support vulnerable people through the pandemic.
Charities benefitting include family support charity Home-Start Hertfordshire, Age Concern Stevenage, Citizens Advice St Albans and District, Dacorum Community Trust, and The Living Room - an addiction rehabilitation charity with centres in Stevenage and St Albans.
Helen Gray, the foundation’s director, said: “It is a privilege for HCF to be able to play a role at this time – to give funding support to the local community and voluntary organisations that are doing an incredible job under enormous pressure to adapt their existing services and help even more people.
“We want to make sure these crucial organisations have the funding they need to cope, and also to adapt their services during this crisis. We couldn’t do this without the generous support we have seen for both the NET appeal and our own local appeal.”
Adrienne Arthurs, chief executive of The Living Room, said: “We’re extremely grateful to HCF. As with other charities across Hertfordshire, we’ve had to make some radical changes to our service in order to meet our clients’ needs which, if anything, have become greater since the coronavirus crisis took hold. The grant will allow our counsellors to assess a growing waiting list of clients and, in turn, give them access to our online group counselling sessions which we are running every weekday.”
Helen concluded: “Our frontline charities are facing unprecedented challenges and there are still many more organisations that need our help. If you would like to support the voluntary sector who are helping those in serious need please consider making a donation to HCF’s appeal at hertscf.org.uk”
To apply for a grant from the fund visit hertscf.org.uk/coronavirus.
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