From those early murmurs of a problem virus in early 2020 to us being a nation in full lockdown by March, the speed in which this all escalated was frightening. And, as we write this, some 16-months on, we don’t think many saw the restrictions on our lives lasting anywhere near as long as this.

Pretty early into the first lockdown, it became clear that the livelihoods of so many people were being hit, like a rug being pulled out from right under their feet. Added to this were the extra money pressures being placed on families with having children at home all the time. Alongside money worries, and for many reasons, the emotional wellbeing of so many people was affected too.

Supporting people

Here at Longleigh, due to the financial support from Stonewater, we were able to put a far higher amount of funding into our Individual Grants programme. These are the short-term, practical grants that are exclusively for Stonewater residents and families when they face particularly difficult situations that place them in financial crisis or hardship. Between April 2020 and March 2021, we supported 572 applications, totalling more than £420,000.

We helped with the food bills for those placed on furlough, made redundant or who were self-employed; with moving costs for families if they had to very quickly leave dangerous and unhealthy relationships; and supported many individuals and families as they stepped out from a supported living scheme and into their own place to live.

If you were a recipient of a Longleigh Individual Grant, our sincere hope is that it made some positive difference to you, big or small, and that it just gave that bit of space to breathe, to regroup and then to go again. Because that’s what this is all about – you.

Supporting communities

Alongside the Individual Grants, we also provided funding to charitable and social enterprise organisations for them to deliver projects. All these grants are to try and give Stonewater residents access to enhanced support and services.

We continued to fund a charity that provides beds for children that don’t have a bed of their own to sleep in and for two refuges for people who are needing to flee from violent and abusive relationships. We also continued to fund a project that exclusively supports Stonewater residents with becoming more confident in the use of computers and doing more everyday activities digitally.

We know that publicly funded organisations and the health service are very busy and it can take a long time to get the support we need. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has made this worse. So, over the last year, we funded three community organisations to provide easy-to-access and longer-term support, exclusively for Stonewater residents, to help with improving economic and emotional wellbeing.

What’s next for us?

As we look to the year ahead, we’re going to continue funding this work because we know the longer-term impact of the pandemic is far from being over. We’ll be back with you soon to let you know how you can access this support yourself or how you can ask a Stonewater staff member to help you. And, we’ll be adding in support to help people improve their physical wellbeing.

We’re going to keep the amount of funding we have available for Individual Grants at the same level as we did last year. We know that this may still not be enough but if you’re in a particular situation of financial crisis or hardship, just have a look at our website to find out whether an Individual Grant might be able to help you and your family.

We’re a very small team at Longleigh but we’re dedicated to using our funding to really try and help Stonewater customers and communities as much as we can. 2020-21 has been – as it has for millions of people - an incredibly difficult year and we know that the impact of the pandemic is still being felt. We are committed to being here for you when times are hard and if you need us, we’ll do what we can to help.

Best wishes,

Andy Peers, Chief Executive, Longleigh Foundation