‘Lifeline’ Salford charity at risk of closure
The charity organisation was previously funded by the Lottery Fund, but is due to run out of funding before the end of the year.
A ‘lifeline’ community group in Salford may have to shut down in September after struggling to secure grant funding for the first time in more than two decades. Lower Kersal Young People and Community Group provides almost daily activities to help the elderly beat loneliness, and troubled young people access activities they couldn’t usually afford.
“We’d be very upset if this goes,” Gail Barrett, 77, told the LDRS at one of the organisation’s coffee mornings at St Aidan’s Church. “There’s nothing else like this, no community spaces. There’s not much around here anymore, no pubs or anything. It really is a lifeline for people, especially those that are on their own.”
The charity organisation was previously funded by the Lottery Fund, but after losing out during the bidding process this year, is due to run out of funding before the end of the year. That means all of its activities – which includes the coffee morning, film screenings, and a line dancing class for the elderly, and allotments, outings, and activities like cooking classes, lazer quest, and mini-gold for people of all ages, including young people with SEND.
The impact on the area’s local elderly could be ‘devastating’, according to volunteers and visitors.
“Without this, you’re isolated,” Ms Jones told the LDRS. “This morning I walked out of my house and got a taxi here because I knew staying at home would make my mental health suffer. I’m in a really dark place at the moment, but in here I know I’m okay.”
Ms Jones cares for her daughter full-time, and says even though they’re constantly together, the caring responsibilities can leave her feeling cut-off from the outside world.
But in the last few weeks, going to the coffee morning has offered a short break from ‘being stuck in your own head’.
Jane Wilson, 67, a retired nurse, has been coming to the centre for just under a year. “Since I moved to the area just over a year ago, I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“This group has just been fantastic. As soon as I came in they said ‘we’ve been there, we’ve run that race’. They’re here for you. It’s just such a source of support.
“Sometimes I’m too tired to come because of the chemo – and the next week everyone will be asking where you were. People really care about each other here.”
Supporting people in the area for 22 years, the charity could soon have to shut down its activities.
Sean Massey, who manages the organisation, said: “We’ve been getting little bits to survive, but if we don’t get anything soon, September might be our last month. That would mean everything goes. In September as well, the rent for our building is due to doubling from £8,000 to £16,000.
“It would be devastating. A lot of people who live here are isolated. On top of the coffee morning, there are young people who are out of work for mental health or physical reasons, and this is the only place they meet people and get support.”
MP Christian Wakeford has also praised the work of the Lower Kersal Young People and Community Group, and says he is trying to gain some clarity on why they lost National Lottery funding.
Mr Wakeford said: “The group undertakes a vast amount of work with young people and older people in the area, work that is not done by local authority or the government and without it, Kersal would be poorer for it.
“I understand that the group has been the recipient of long-term funding by the National Lottery via the Reaching Communities fund. However, the funding is due to expire in September. As such I’ve reached out to National Lottery to get clarification on the funding criteria.
“This fund is a lifeline to a community group which supports vulnerable young people and residents in one of the most deprived parts of Greater Manchester.“
The organisation accepts donations via their website, and also welcomes donated goods to support cooking classes and coffee mornings.