Commissioner's grant helps charity for young people

By Barrie Hudson - 15 September 2020

CommunityCharity

A charity which supports young people in north Wiltshire is £2,750 better off thanks to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Covid-19 Response Fund.

  • The pandemic has increased the charity's workload

    The pandemic has increased the charity's workload

The RISE Trust has been awarded the money from the Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Response Fund, which is supported by funding from PCC Angus Macpherson.The Trust’s teams are working in Cricklade, Purton, Chippenham and Malmesbury, and have been spending extra time in Calne supporting young people affected by last month’s tragic collision in which four young men died.
Mr Macpherson said he was pleased that the £50,000 he allocated to help organisations and charities affected by the pandemic was already making a difference.
He added: “The RISE Trust is carrying out vital work in our communities – supporting children and young people to help keep them on the straight and narrow in the anticipation that this will potentially divert them away from falling into low-level crime, anti-social behaviour or drugs.
“In order to be eligible to apply for funding, organisations need to provide my office with assurances that this money is being used to address the priorities set out within my Police and Crime Plan, and there is no doubt that the work The RISE Trust does is providing huge benefits for young people, their families and the wider community.”
RISE Trust youth co-ordinator Danielle Blake said the grant had been vital in funding their work running sessions in town centres and parks, which is badly needed in the wake of the pandemic, with young people suffering from isolation and anxiety about returning to school and some at risk of being drawn into antisocial behaviour.
“We are so grateful for this grant because it is really making a difference to the young people,” she said. 
“What we do is about making them feel reassured so they know there is someone they can talk to.
“For them just seeing that someone notices them is really valuable. So if they are not feeling like they want to talk, there is someone to say, ‘hey, are you okay?’
That gives them an opportunity to open up and talk about or ask something that is troubling them.”
The RISE Trust has children’s centres in Calne, Royal Wootton Bassett and Chippenham funded by Wiltshire Council, covering Corsham, Malmesbury, Cricklade and Purton. 
More information about the PCC’s Covid19 Response Fund can be found at https://www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk/article/6294/COVID-19-Response-Fund 
The RISE Trust website is www.therisetrust.org 
Details of the response fund can be found at www.wiltshirecf.org.uk

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