£210,000 pledged to Cost of Living Crisis Fund for North and East Yorkshire
Two Ridings have launched a cost of living crisis fund for the region. £210,000 has already been pledged into it, but more donations are needed to make the biggest impact for local people experiencing the full brunt of the spiralling cost of living.
With a track record of making the most impact at times of crisis, we are asking people and businesses who can give to do so via North and East Yorkshire Cost of Living Crisis Fund
Money donated to the crisis fund will be used to support people and communities right now and into the long term as the crisis deepens.
Local community organisations are working tirelessly throughout the region to help the people most in need. The fund will give grants to groups who give practical, financial and emotional support to people struggling to manage bills, with their day-to-day existence and the emotional impact of constantly worrying about finance, debt and their loved ones’ wellbeing.
The fund will also ensure these charities can cope with the impact of the cost of living on their own costs, so they can continue this crucial support.
One of the Yorkshire charities already seeing the impact of the cost of living crisis is the Shores Centre in Withernsea. Jayne Nendick painted a picture of life at the moment for the people the Shores Centre supports:
“This is the worst crisis I have seen in my seventeen years working in Withernsea. Every day I think it can’t get worse, and yet it does. I am seeing escalating numbers of people encountering problems every day. I am aware of pensioners who have had to sell their homes are now sofa surfing or living in a bedsit with only a kettle to cook with. This is a poverty pandemic.”
York resident, Johny, gave us his first-hand insight into what living below the breadline meant at the moment for him with winter looming. Johny has a long term mental health condition and is terrified of the impending increases.
“I am looking at the prospect of spending winter alone again in my council flat with no heating because I won’t be able to have it on unless the temperature is below zero, which is pretty miserable.
I don’t have carpets in my flat so it’s chilly at the best of times in autumn and winter anyway, because I haven’t been able to afford carpets – ever – on my budget.
I am anxious already and contemplating reducing further my already-restricted budget to live on has already impacted on my very low mood and heightened my anxiety to unbearable levels once again, just with the amount of worry I’m carrying around each day now.”
Louise Mouncey from charity Shine 21 talking to James Lambert OBE the High Sheriff of North Yorkshire about the cost of living
To experience the critical work community organisations make, James Lambert OBE, the High Sheriff of North Yorkshire and founding donor of the crisis fund, has been out and about visiting organisations in the region, finding out the difference funding makes.
He is appealing to businesses and people all over the region to donate now to curb this crisis:
“As a local businessman I urge everyone who can to donate to this crucial fund. As High Sheriff I have seen the amazing work that local charities do and know that any money donated is used wisely and well, where it is most needed.”
Donations have already come from across the region ranging from £20 for Mrs W to a £20k pledge from a prominent local Yorkshire businessman. By donating through Two Ridings, as a charity they can claim a further 25% on top from the Government via Gift Aid.
The fund open for applications from North and East Yorkshire community organisations from early October 2022. Full details will be on their Apply For funding page when it opens. Two Ridings Community Foundation | Apply for Funding – (tworidingscf.org.uk)