Seven community projects in Leicester supporting local people in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic will be boosted by a share of £490,000 thanks to a Community Partnership Grant from NHS Charities Together.

Delivered through a partnership between the three local NHS Charities, Leicester Hospitals Charity, Raising Health (Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust) and East Midlands Ambulance Charitable Fund, seven grants were made to support communities affected by the highest levels of deprivation and greatest health inequalities.

The grants are a first step in a combined desire between the partnership groups to help ‘level up’ NHS services for the most vulnerable people in our communities as the region emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 40 local charities and projects applied to receive a grant, with the seven recipients chosen for their focus on supporting vulnerable and marginalised people in our communities.

Leicester Hospitals Charity Director, Lisa Davies, says the group of the three local NHS charities are proud to support these important local projects through these grant awards.

“The pandemic has impacted all of us, but people in our community who are vulnerable and the community charities who support them have been hit particularly hard,” says Lisa.

“Through this funding from NHS Charities Together, we are delighted to lend a helping hand to these seven important projects as they support people in our communities. As we emerge from the pandemic over the coming years, we’re proud that these grants will help our communities to recover.

“For us at Leicester Hospitals Charity and our partners at Raising Health and East Midlands Ambulance Charitable Fund, we all see this moment in time as an important opportunity to create a positive legacy from Covid. Nothing can undo the difficulties and hurt the pandemic has caused, but we are all determined to help make our health services even better for those who need them most.”

The charities and community projects named as beneficiaries of this NHS Charities Together grant are:

  • Enrych – empowering adults living with a disability, particularly who are socially isolated, to live active and independent lives.
  • Reaching People – supporting older vulnerable people with mental health, wellbeing, housing, benefits and money advice.
  • Centre for Fun & Families –supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing through 121s and groupwork programmes covering anxiety, low-mood, low confidence and self-harm.
  • Home Start Horizons – providing one-to-one family support and post-natal illness specialist support for families in BAME communities
  • Leicester City in the Community – “United Leicester”, supporting adult mental health through sport, offering activities around education, community engagement, and health and wellbeing.
  • Rural Community Council – supporting adult mental health across Melton Mowbray and Rutland by providing intensive one-to-one support individuals considered ‘high intensity’
  • Leicester Academic Health Partnership – supporting research into health inequalities pertaining to NHS trusts. Working to understand the inequalities in health care that affect those who experience poorer outcomes as service users.