Fairer Renfrewshire Update Report
Renfrewshire Council · 14 September 2022
Back to Leadership Board — 14 September 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Leadership Board On: 14 September 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Fairer Renfrewshire Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Council and its partners have worked collectively for many years to tackle the inequalities that exist across Renfrewshire’s communities, through targeted programmes of work such as the local Tackling Poverty Programme and the Alcohol and Drugs Commission. The pandemic has however exacerbated the inequalities that local residents face, with disproportionate impacts being experienced in terms of issues such as income, health and wellbeing. 1.2 In response to COVID local partners developed a Social Renewal programme, which identified the need to take forward additional work to support people experiencing financial insecurity and poverty. Given the emergence of the cost of living crisis over the last 6 months, Council agreed in March 2022 to bring all of these activities of work under one programme - Fairer Renfrewshire. 1.3 A new sub-committee of the Leadership Board has recently been established to ensure there is scrutiny and oversight of issues relating to poverty and inequality in Renfrewshire, with an initial focus on the local response to the cost of living crisis. The first meeting of the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-group took place on 16 August 2022, where a report on the issues facing individuals and families in Renfrewshire was discussed along with some of the current Council responses already in place. A special meeting of the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee is currently being scheduled for end of September / early October. This will involve wider stakeholders, who will be able to share their views on emerging areas of need and help to identify local actions that can be progressed by partners. 1.4 The cost of living crisis is deeply concerning for local residents and communities, and services and partners are reporting increasing incidence of local people indicating that they are unable to meet increasing household costs, with particular pressure in relation to
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2 soaring food and fuel costs. The scale of cost of living pressures is widespread, affecting many additional individuals and households that may not have experienced issues meeting household expenditure in the past. 1.5 The crisis and its impacts are emerging at a fast pace, and the Council and its partners have continued to work together to build on the work we have been doing both prior and as a response to the pandemic, to support people impacted by poverty and financial insecurity. However the extent of the crisis will continue to require significant funding and intervention at a national government level. 1.6 In total, over £4.4m has been allocated to support financial insecurity and poverty through strategic funding, with a range of other initiatives being delivered by specific Council services and partners. Building on funding of over £2m allocated in 21/22 to support households experiencing financial insecurity, since March 2022 the Council has allocated a further £2.4m to support people in Renfrewshire, including £1.15m to support the delivery of the Tackling Poverty Programme in 22/23. A significant proportion of the funding allocated since March 2022 has been and will be used during the whole year to put money directly into the pockets of residents and households or to provide direct support on food and fuel, including: • £500,000 to top up the Scottish Welfare Fund allocation locally • £300,000 to top up Discretionary Housing Payment funding • £370,000 to deliver Financial Insecurity Payments to households • £50,000 to extend a fuel insecurity scheme with Renfrewshire CAB, Linstone Housing Association and Renfrewshire Foodbank 1.7 A significant focus also continues to be on extending and targeting advice provision to ensure people access support as early as possible to manage household income issues, including support to maximise household income and to access employment opportunities. 1.8 Section 4 of this paper provides a detailed summary of the activities undertaken to date in Renfrewshire in response to financial insecurity and the wider cost of living crisis, whilst section 5 sets out proposals to allocate a further £450,000 of immediate funding to local households and families, with £100,000 to be utilised to support the delivery of an advice pilot in schools in Renfrewshire in partnership with Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau, and £300,000 to be allocated to provide a £50 Winter School Clothing Payment to each eligible child in Renfrewshire during October 2022, repeating the successful delivery of this initiative in 21/22. A further £50,000 will be set aside to support the development of a Winter Connections programme in partnership with local organisations – encouraging people to connect and participate in activities in warm and welcoming spaces across communities in Renfrewshire. 1.9 An update is also provided on a review undertaken of the approach to allocating Financial Insecurity payments to low income households experiencing financial hardship, and sets out proposals for revising the current process to ensure this funding is targeted effectively over the remainder of 2022/23.
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3 1.10 Section 6 of this paper, provides a summary of applications received in relation to the Community Food Fund, which was relaunched over Summer 2022, with £50,000 of funding available to support local community food initiatives. It is recommended that 8 applications totalling £44,970 are approved for award by the Leadership Board. 1.11 In terms of the wider Fairer Renfrewshire programme and the Alcohol and Drugs Commission work, Section 7 of this paper provides an update on the launch of the Recovery Change Fund, following approval of this funding in June 2022. The paper includes recommendation to award funding to the first two projects from the Fund, as detailed in Appendix 2, with a total funding requirement of £14,279. 1.12 Elected members will be aware that as at 7th September, both the UK and Scottish Governments are seeking to implement interventions to support households impacted by the cost of living crisis. The detail of this will emerge over the coming days and weeks, and a verbal update on any additional supports that have been introduced will be provided at the board meeting. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Leadership Board: • Note the content of the report and the funding that has been allocated to support individual households and residents in Renfrewshire impacted by financial insecurity and the emerging cost of living crisis. • Approve the allocation of £300,000 from the Fairer Renfrewshire programme to deliver an additional £50 Winter Clothing Payment per child currently in receipt of a School Clothing Grant • Approve grant funding of £100,000 to Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau for a school advice pilot in Renfrewshire secondary schools, as detailed in section 5. • Approve arrangements for the extension of the Financial Insecurity Winter Payment to support families and individuals in Renfrewshire who are struggling with low incomes, as detailed at Section 5. • Agree plans to develop a Winter Connections Programme in Renfrewshire, and approve the allocation of £50,000 to support the provision of welcoming and warm spaces across communities, with a focus on promoting wellbeing, reducing isolation and making sure people have access to advice and support. • Approve the allocation of £44,970 of the Community Food Fund, as detailed at Section 6 and Appendix 1. • Approve the allocation of £14,279 from the Recovery Change Fund to support the initiatives detailed in Section 7 and Appendix 2. • Approve the arrangements for progressing the next round of the Recovery Change Fund as detailed at Section 7. 3. Background
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4 3.1 The Council and its partners have been working over the longer term to tackle the inequalities that exist across Renfrewshire’s communities, including through the Tackling Poverty and Alcohol and Drugs Commission Programmes. In recognition of the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on local people and communities, partners also worked together on a Social Renewal Programme in 2021 which identified the need to work together to target additional issues being experienced in relation to poverty, financial insecurity and wellbeing. 3.2 As agreed by Council on 3 March 2022, all activities previously under these programmes of work will now come together to form a new Fairer Renfrewshire Programme which will also extend to include further actions and initiatives to support local residents, especially with regards to the cost-of-living crisis. Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee 3.3 Council agreed on 19 May 2022 to form a Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee to facilitate more scrutiny and oversight of issues relating to poverty and inequality in Renfrewshire and the first meeting of this sub-group took place on 16 August 2022, where a detailed report on current pressures on household finances was shared, alongside further information on local work relating to food and fuel insecurity specifically. A range of issues were identified by members, which will be explored and a report brought back to the sub-committee at its next meeting. These include further opportunities in relation to community food provision, the re- use and refurbishment of household items such as white goods, and housing support for residents. 3.4 It was recognised that many of the issues that were being discussed at the sub-committee were cross-cutting in nature, and would likely be explored through the relevant policy board structures. It was agreed that a cross-service officer group would be established to explore the issues raised by the sub-committee in more detail, as well as identifying opportunities on an ongoing basis to support the response to the crisis. 3.5 As the scale of the crisis continues to widen, many parallels can begin to be drawn with COVID in terms of the types of support that may be required by households, communities and businesses over the next 12-24 months. The officer group will review the interventions that were utilised during the COVID period to provide support, and will assess whether some of these could be adopted should the crisis deepen further as anticipated. 3.6 A special meeting of the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee is currently being scheduled for early October. This will involve wider stakeholders, who will be able to share their views on emerging areas of need and help to identify local actions that can be progressed by partners. 4. Overview of local activities to address financial insecurity and poverty 4.1 The cost of living crisis continues to deepen on a daily basis, and the Council and partners have continued to develop the local response to provide as much support as is possible to
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5 local people, albeit significant intervention and funding at a national level will be required to support household and families over the short and medium term. 4.2 In 2021/22, the Council allocated over £2m to support initiatives which target poverty and financial insecurity, utilising available Scottish Government funding and social renewal funding. Many of these initiatives remain underway and have included: • £230,000 allocated initially to provide individual grants of £100 for households facing financial insecurity/hardship to cover fuel and essentials. Clients are referred from trusted partners to ensure we are targeting priority groups, especially those who may not be eligible for support from elsewhere, but may be struggling. • £325,000 allocated to support an additional £50 payment per child for children already in receipt of School Clothing Grants to support with purchase of winter clothing in Winter 2021 • £160,000 allocated to top up the Scottish Welfare Fund to maintain payments at the current (highest) rate. • £90,000 to top up Discretionary Housing Payments which will assist clients in maintaining their tenancy and prevent homelessness. • £38,000 for an additional Improving the Cancer Journey Coordinator for one year to support individuals who have a long-term condition. This provides capacity to see service users more quickly and provide them with appropriate advice. • £100,000 funding for place based responses to food insecurity, including support for Pantries and £25,000 to establish a Community Food Fund. This has allowed thousands of families throughout Renfrewshire to access food in a dignified way. • An initial £50,000 to provide emergency fuel support, backed by energy advice, to low- income families struggling with energy costs was set up in September 2021 with local partners. • £45,000 allocated to support affordable credit work, including employment of an Affordable Credit Officer to work in our communities. • We have also provided £10,000 to Renfrewshire Foodbank to support their work around emergency food provision. Additional funding and support allocated since March 2022 4.3 Since March 2022, officers have continued to work with partners to build on the activity and support that was established during 2021/22, extending funding to continue to support the delivery of key projects and identifying gaps in provision in order to provide additional support to local residents and households. This work has been progressed at pace, prioritising all of the available staffing resource possible to develop and implement these initiatives without delay. 4.4 Since March 2022, an additional £2.4m has been allocated: • £50,000 to extend the fuel insecurity pilot currently being delivered in partnership by Linstone Housing Association, Renfrewshire CAB and Renfrewshire Foodbank. • £34,000 to top up the Community Food Fund • £300,000 to top up Discretionary Housing payment funding • £500,000 to top up the Scottish Welfare Fund allocation
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6 • £370,000 to extend the programme of financial insecurity payments detailed in section 4.2 and section 5 of this report. 4.5 The Tackling Poverty Programme has also continued to deliver a number of projects that increase household income and reduce expenditure, including: • Energy Advocates saved clients over £325,000 in 2021/22 and continue to work this year providing support with ongoing savings, write offs and Warm Home Discounts as well as referral to voucher schemes. • Cost of the School Day funding was topped up by £75,000 as has been done each year for the last 4 years, with food vouchers, energy top-ups, toiletries and warm clothing being supplied last school year as well as more usual items such as stationery and school uniforms. • Street Stuff programme provides free activities for children in the evenings, during the holidays and at weekends. A free healthy meal is provided and the Street Stuff buses also have free wifi to ensure young people aren’t digitally excluded. 4.6 Advice is a vitally important part of efforts to support those on lower incomes. In addition to the Council’s in-house advice service Advice Works, the Council also provides funding to Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau (RCAB) to provide both a general advice service and a community legal advice service. In addition to this, a number of additional supports have been funded, including: • A Welfare Rights service providing additional advice and representation across the range of welfare benefits, based at RCAB • A ‘Fair Work’ service which provides advice on employment related issues, based at RCAB • A benefit take-up campaign which has received £5,000 through the Social Renewal budget, running targeted campaigns in November and January • Advice is also now being provided from two GP surgeries, with Mirin Practice and the Tannahill Practice newly receiving this support from Advice Works in the first instance, with a view to expanding to other surgeries. 5. Emerging opportunities and developments to enhance support Winter Clothing Grant 5.1 As highlighted in section 4, during Winter 2021/22 the Council provided a £50 payment per child to families where children were already in receipt of School Clothing Grants to support with purchase of winter clothing. Scottish Government funding to address financial insecurity over the Winter period was utilised to provide this funding. Many families use their initial grant for clothing bought in summer for starting school, so a winter payment allowed the purchase of warmer items. 5.2 Recognising the significant additional financial pressures faced by low-income families locally, particularly in light of the growing cost of living crisis, it is recommended that a further payment of £50 is made for the 2022/23 academic year, to allow families to purchase additional winter clothing for children. 5.3 This would be an automated payment to households currently in receipt of School Clothing Grants, with no application or further action required by parents and carers. Payment would
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7 be made directly to bank accounts (details of which are already held) during October 2022. £300,000 would be allocated from the Fairer Renfrewshire funding envelope to support the provision of this payment Extending Advice Provision - School Support Service 5.4 As highlighted above, it is critical that local partners continue to promote and support as many people as possible to access advice services, which can help them to manage their household income more effectively. At Council on 3 March 2022 a motion was passed to provide, funding for a joint 2-year pilot financial inclusion project in schools supported by Renfrewshire CAB; with a focus on areas where identified gaps in provision exist and those areas not covered by existing services such as Families First. The pilot will be fully developed in a future report to the Leadership Board. 5.5 Discussion with Renfrewshire CAB has taken place to agree the specification of a pilot project for advice in secondary schools. With Advice Works already supporting families with young children through the Tackling Poverty programme funded Families First and Healthier Wealthier Children projects, it is intended that they will be responsible for provision of advice across Renfrewshire primary schools and nurseries, while Renfrewshire CAB will run a pilot across within Renfrewshire secondary schools. 5.6 This paper seeks approval for funding of £50,000 per year over two years for this pilot, with a total value of £100,000. Renfrewshire CAB have committed to work with schools in a flexible way to meet school community and parents’ needs. 5.7 It is recognised that in many cases families have children across both primary and secondary school provision. In these cases, Renfrewshire CAB and Advice Works will agree processes to avoid duplication for parents while maximising support. Financial Insecurity Winter Payment – extension of programme 5.8 A Financial Insecurity Winter Payment was launched in February 2022 using the Scottish Government’s Winter Support Fund, and later supplemented with additional funding agreed by Council as part of a budget motion in March 2022, as well as the Scottish Government COVID-19 Economic Recovery Fund. £600,000 of funding in total has been made available to support delivery of payments, with approximately £170,000 allocated in the first phase. 5.9 This payment is a flexible hardship payment provided to households who are experiencing financial insecurity, particularly due to rising energy costs and cost of living pressures. At Leadership Board on 22 June 2022 it was agreed that a review of this payment should be carried out to ensure it is meeting target groups and examine how it could be scaled up. 5.10 The payments are available on a referral only basis in order to enable targeting to groups that have been unable to access other supports, and is administered by Advice Works alongside the provision of wider money advice for households. This funding has provided payments to nearly 1,700 people since its inception and has worked with over 15 different services and partners to reach households experiencing financial difficulties. Recipients so far include those over pension age, ethnically diverse communities, clients of our housing and homeless services, those affected by multiple health issues and parents of young children. We have also reached 379 families who fit within our Child Poverty Priority
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8 Groups, including 322 lone parents and 381 households which contain a disabled child or adult. (Households can fit into more than one priority group). 5.11 In order to provide support quickly to households in need at this critical time, the referral pathways for the fund have been reviewed and will be expanded to include larger referrers such as Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Housing Associations and Invest in Renfrewshire employability service. In order to facilitate this, additional resource will be provided to support Advice Works to continue to administer the distribution of the fund. This will allow services with higher numbers of clients to refer in and the money to be distributed more quickly to those in need of support. 5.12 The Financial Insecurity Winter Payment is currently paid at a flat rate of £100 per household, agreed in early 2022 when the fund was originally designed. In recognition of the estimated increase of the energy price cap and the impact this will have on the cost of energy bills, it is recommended this is increased to a rate of £150 per household from 1st October. It is further recommended that households who have already received this payment can receive one further payment from the fund from 1st October if this is still required. 5.13 Officers will continue to work with partners to identify further opportunities to provide targeted support to local people and communities. Engagement with low income households is planned during Winter 2022, in partnership with the Poverty Alliance, and further ideas and opportunities will also be developed through engagement with the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee. “Warm spaces” 5.14 There has been much commentary in the media in relation to the decision by some local authorities and partners to establish warm spaces or warm hubs, that local residents can visit should they be finding it difficult to afford to heat their homes. In Renfrewshire the Council, HSCP and One Ren have started to explore opportunities with local partners for an approach that would work in Renfrewshire. 5.15 It is important that any opportunities that are progressed reduce stigma and are rooted in encouraging and supporting people to join together over the winter period, to connect more, to promote positive health and wellbeing, and to access advice and support when they need this. A Winter Connections campaign will be developed to promote the local approach to support during the winter period, recognising that some local organisations have already put into place plans to take this forward in their own community. 5.16 A working group will be formed to assess opportunities to maximise the use of existing buildings for this purpose. This includes community facilities and activities which are led by the community groups and organisations. As an addition to work already underway in existing buildings, officers will then work with partners to map these opportunities and ensure there is good coverage of spaces and activities across Renfrewshire.
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9 5.17 It is suggested that £50,000 of funding is allocated from Fairer Renfrewshire funding, to provide small grants to local organisations to support the Winter Connections programme. In order to ensure that this funding is able to be distributed as quickly as possible, it is recommended that authority is delegated to the Director of Communities and Housing to award grants in line with the guidance which will be developed. Information on awards would be provided to the next Leadership Board on 30 November 2022. 6. Community Food Fund 6.1 In June 2022 members of the Leadership Board approved the top-up of the existing Community Food Fund to £50,000 and the Fund opened for applications on 7 July and closed on 12 August 2022. The purpose of the Fund is to make awards to organisations to develop community food offerings which move from emergency response to promote dignified, localised access to food and community resilience. With refreshed guidance, also agreed at Leadership Board in June 2022, this was expanded to allow the purchase of food due to increased demand being experienced across local organisations for food support and issues being experienced around food supply, largely driven by cost pressures and supply chain issues. 6.2 In total 8 organisations applied for this funding, with a good geographical split across Renfrewshire. The applications were assessed by officers from Renfrewshire Council and Engage Renfrewshire in August 2022. It is recommended that funding of £44,970 is allocated, with full detail provided within Appendix 1. 6.3 The Council will work with the local groups and organisations that are providing food support to people and it is intended that those groups will form part of a Renfrewshire food partnership group examining issues around food insecurity and food provision more broadly. An initial stakeholder session to bring together potential partners and explore the remit of the partnership will be held in early October. 7. Alcohol and Drug Commission 7.1 The Alcohol and Drugs Commission and the resulting programme of change, is a core element of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme with £2m of funding allocated by the Council, to support the local response to the Commission’s recommendations. During the Alcohol and Drugs Commission's listening programme, local groups and organisations stated that it was very difficult to gain funding to support their activities and that further funding could allow them to expand and grow what they did to support local people. In turn, local people experiencing issues with alcohol and drugs felt there needed to be more community-based alternatives to support, as opposed to through formal services. This was felt to be particularly true in terms of mental health and peer support. 7.2 As a result, Council agreed to allocate £150,000 to establish a Recovery Change Fund. The aim of the Fund is to support the development of local groups and organisations which provide social connection and support recovery in Renfrewshire, as well as to provide opportunities to support piloting new ideas and projects in relation to mental health,
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10 recovery, stigma, and social isolation - gaps in provision identified during the work of the Commission. 7.3 Following approval to progress the Recovery Change Fund at Leadership Board on 22 June 2022, the application process was launched with applications accepted between 1 July and 29 July. In total 6 organisations applied to the Fund. 7.4 A formal evaluation process was undertaken by a multiagency Assessment Panel, including officers from Renfrewshire Council, Renfrewshire ADP, and Engage Renfrewshire, scoring each application using a scoring matrix with weightings against key criteria agreed by Leadership Board: • Impact: the extent to which activities will make a positive impact on the lives of those affected by alcohol and/or drugs, and how this can be evidenced. • Social connection: the extent to which the initiative provides opportunities to reduce social isolation and loneliness for individuals and families impacted by alcohol and drug use. • Sustainability: how you could sustain the level of support you would be offering beyond the funding period. • Innovation: how new and innovative the project is, particularly for applicants piloting new ideas. • Past experience/track record: the extent to which your organisation has past experience of providing support to individuals, families, and communities. • Partnership working: the extent to which projects work in partnership with others, including the wider recovery network. 7.5 The Panel identified two eligible projects to be recommended for award of funding, with a total combined funding requirement of £14,279.00 as detailed in Appendix 2. 7.6 The two projects recommended for award will support initiatives delivering specific one-to- one female and male support for those affected by substance use, including increasing self- esteem and confidence, and disengaging from abusive relationships, as well as initiatives around supporting and encouraging local people to access recovery and wellbeing services, removing barriers, and creating pathways to networks and services. 7.7 With a balance of funding remaining, it is proposed that the next round of funding will open following approval by the Leadership Board and close in early November 2022, with recommendations being brought back to this Board early 2023. This will link in with the ongoing Connected and Caring Renfrewshire programme of events and activities, particularly the Recovery Walk, which will take place in Paisley on 24 September 2022. Promotion and engagement will be ongoing to ensure that we continue to raise awareness of the Fund and its specific criteria. 7.8 A number of applications have been identified as being recommended to be deferred to the proposed next round of funding, with work taking place with organisations to develop applications, with particular attention to the specific criteria of this Fund, as well as exploring
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11 opportunities for partnership working with other organisations, the wider recovery network etc. 7.9 In addition, Council and ADP officers, in partnership with Engage Renfrewshire, will work with unsuccessful applicants to signpost to alternative sources of funding. 7.10 Members of Leadership Board are asked to approve the award recommendations as set out in Appendix B. Progress on all projects funded through the Recovery Change Fund will be monitored and reported back to Leadership Board. 8. Next steps 8.1 As highlighted throughout this paper, there will be an ongoing need for officers and partners to work very closely if the scale of the cost of living crisis deepens as expected. There may be a requirement to respond quickly and flexibly to emerging need over potentially an extended period of time – the crisis and its impacts are likely to last for a period of several years. 8.2 There will be a requirement for the Council to respond very quickly to deliver supports identified and funded by the UK and Scottish Government, similar to the way in which services were required to respond during the pandemic. It is anticipated that further information on the interventions that will be put into place by the UK Government and Scottish Government will emerge during the first half of September. Verbal updates will be provided at the board meeting as required. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – The report seeks approvals for a number of allocations of funding from the approved budget for the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme as agreed by Council on the 3rd March 2022. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality and Human Rights – 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none
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12 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – none 13. Climate Risk – none Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Commissioning
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1 Appendix 1 – Proposed awards for Community Food Fund September 2022 Organisation and area Funding requested Purpose Funding proposed for approval Active Communities £10,000 Johnstone Food Pantry - Active Communities recently opened a Community pantry in Station Seven Johnstone, however food supply issues have meant there is a lack of stock, and they have had to limit membership numbers. Funding will allow them to purchase food and service more people. They have also requested funding for a poly tunnel so that they can grow food, making the project more sustainable, along with food hygiene training costs. £10,000 Community Action for Erskine (CAFE) T/A EBI Unites £7,000 Through nourish we flourish - EBI Unites run an established pantry and food project in Erskine. They are seeking part funding for their cooking club for 50 participants and funding to make their provision more dignified for those who use the service through the purchase of a glass fronted fridge and freezer. £3,000 Darkwood Crew £10,000 Fareshare Distribution - Surplus Food Run - Darkwood Crew have applied for funding on behalf of three organisations with established food provision: themselves, EBI Unites and Lochwinnoch Community Larder to continue their current joint FareShare membership, which provides a supply of surplus food to those organisations to for their own food distribution projects. Darkwood Crew hold a weekly market for residents and funding will allow this to continue. Transport costs applied for will also allow them to continue to distribute food across their partnership. £10,000 LEAP – Lochwinnoch Community Larder £3,000 Community larder dignity project - Lochwinnoch Community Larder are looking to purchase non-perishable food to supplement existing fresh provision to help during cost of living crisis. At present, much of their food comes via the joint FareShare membership and a number of pick ups of surplus food from shops, however much of this is fresh and short dated. £3,000 Paisley West Church £5,000 Tackling Food Poverty Community Meal - Paisley West Church would like to run a weekly lunch to reach 50 people and are looking for start-up costs, including for food hygiene training as well as food purchase costs. The meal will be open to anyone who wants to come along and the project will be supported by donations long term. Due to the funding via the Church to purchase food, it is recommended that start-up costs for equipment and training are funded in full and the funding for food is reduced from one full year’s funding to the initial 3 months. £2,350 Rainbow Buddies £2,680 Growth to food project - Rainbow Buddies wants to help families and children understand where food comes from, cook cost effective and healthy meals and intend to provide 1 hot meal per week, along with cookery skills £2,180
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2 classes and growing food. This is especially for parents and carers with pre-school children. As part of their application, Rainbow Buddies had requested funding of £500 for a bus visit to a farm. As this does not fit with the Fund guidance it is recommended that the award is reduced to reflect this. Renfrew Development Trust £4,440 Foodie bags - Renfrew Development Trust want to hire a stall at Renfrew market and provide meal bags with ingredients and recipe cards and give them out for free. The recipes will be healthy and the food different each week. Making the bags free will ensure the project is stigma free and donations will be invited. This project will help to gauge need for a food pantry or similar community food provision in Renfrew. The funding application covers costs of the bags, including food for a 6 month period and also food hygiene training. £4,440 Recovery Across Mental Health (RAMH) £10,000 Paisley Pantry – RAMH opened a pantry earlier in 2022 in the centre of Paisley and have already had 500 members sign up, however they are having to buy food to supplement the food they receive through the current membership from FareShare that they hold in partnership with 2 other pantries. RAMH have requested funding for a further FareShare membership so that they can access more surplus food and allow them to meet the needs of their current members in a dignified way. They have also requested funding for their contingency food fund, so they can top up supplies where that is necessary. £10,000 Total £44970
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3 Appendix 2 – Proposed awards for Recovery Change Fund September 2022 Organisation Funding Requested Name and Purpose of Project Decision Street Connect £4,279.00 Additional Addiction Support for Kilnside Road – to provide a female one to one support worker for women affected by substance use, to offer holistic, relationship-based support to help women find acceptance, increase self-esteem & confidence, achieve reduction in/freedom from substance use and disengage from abusive relationships. The project will also increase the hours for the male support worker to support more men on a one to one level. Recommended for award Blue Triangle £10,000.00 Renfrew Smart Connections – to provide a recovery oriented, community led project promoting recovery and community connections across Renfrewshire linked to SMART Recovery UK. The project will support and encourage local people to access recovery & wellbeing services, removing barriers and creating pathways to networks and services. Recommended for award Organisation Funding Requested Name of Project Decision Youth Interventions £9,020.00 YI Love Me – Recommend deferring to next round RAMH £9,659.54 Peer Recovery - Recommend deferring to next round Renfrew YMCA £9,958.00 Our Mind Our Space Recommend deferring to next round Organisation Funding Requested Name and Purpose of Project Decision
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4 Our Place Our Families £10,000.00 Eat Better Feel Better Cooking Classes Not recommended for award