In the Black Project (360G-SCVO-a0g0N00001gBHfGQAW)

£10,000
Recipient Organization

The Women sector has been disproportionately affected by the recent cuts in public sector spending, at a time when the issues the sector deals with have never been so prominent. Financial worries are common in many households across Scotland, but can be particularly difficult for lone parents, people experiencing unemployment and those on low incomes and mostly households from the Black & Minority Ethnic community. We are seeking funding to pilot a new service in Glasgow & South Lanarkshire that will target mostly women in poverty due to the welfare reforms, and are disengaged from education and are experiencing various social & economic disadvantages to have access to financial education, help them develop their financial skills and to help them raise their educational attainment; and to support them to improve confidence and self-esteem to lead a healthy and meaningful lifestyle. The project will empower them with the necessary financial skills to live independently and to deal effectively with the welfare reforms. The project will offer these women experiencing financial difficulties support and advice in relation to debt and money management including welfare, debt, fuel and energy management. The activities will take a preventative approach to financial problems and improve mental welling for those affected by the current welfare reforms and reduce the social inequalities that they face. The primary purpose of the project is to support women aged 18-50 years from the African community resident in Glasgow & South Lanarkshire in poverty and experiencing financial difficulties exacerbated by the UK Government Welfare reform to money management services. Financial Inclusion is about ensuring everyone has access to appropriate financial services and products which enable them to manage their money on day to day basis; plan and deal effectively with unexpected financial pressures. We will actively involve the women in decision making processes regarding project planning and encourage them to have a genuine influence on how the project is delivered. By doing this we aim to foster important skills and provide opportunities for them to learn more about budgeting and planning considerations. We will also regularly seek out feedback from them and develop creative ways of involving them in evaluating the project and recognising and celebrating successes. Partnership working is at the heart of our project proposal and we strongly feel that developing positive relationships with other organisations and involving them in project delivery results in better projects and additional outcomes for young people. For this project, we will be looking to gain input from a number of partners including the local community CAB agency to help us explore with participants the impact of welfare reform, both individually and societally, and to develop materials and information that creatively engages and informs the women. We are also keen to embrace opportunities to tap into the wider network of organisations receiving Community Capacity and Resilience funding and to explore potential partnership working with them. Having previously delivered work around these themes, we know that our project addresses a significant gap in provision in the locality and that supporting the women to be aspirational and develop their awareness and confidence dealing with issues which contribute to inequality such as health and finance literacy. We strongly believe that actively helping the women to learn new skills at such a key stage in their lives, improves their well-being and reduces their future dependency on family and state supports. Being based in a community which experiences multiple deprivation, we consider ourselves, despite our specific community focus, to be fundamentally an anti-poverty and pro-equality organisation. As such we are committed to creatively supporting women and developing projects which seek to reduce inequalities and decrease the number of people who experience financial hardship and are negatively affected by welfare reform. We know that there is a need for our project because of our previous work and through our interactions with these women who are currently unemployed. When we speak with the women who we meet, often on the streets during the day, about what they are doing many reports that they are currently doing nothing and that they feel that no existing provision meets their needs. The target beneficiaries that we will work with experience a number of disadvantages and complex needs as a result of their age, the area they live in and its social issues and, for many, their negative experiences of mainstream education. We propose to deliver financial educations that will include budgeting sessions; support with DWP claims; credit check, switching energy suppliers and opening bank accounts, Practical steps to reducing living costs, Reducing energy bills by switching providers and being more energy efficient, Shopping about for the best deals in relation other regular bills such as home and car insurance, Making the most of entitlements such as free schools' meals; clothing grants, concessionary travel; Education Maintenance Allowance. Steps taken to maximise family incomes, reduce essential outgoings and mitigate the effects of poverty and whilst there is an upward trend in rates of employment in Scotland, changes to the quality and nature of works have driven in-work poverty. We estimate that 250 women aged 18-50 years from the African community will have access to the project. The project will be delivered on a one to one and group basis depending on the need of individual women.Delivery will be from our Glasgow City centre base (new) and this is easy accessible via good transport links. We expect the delivery to be like: One-to-one support will work with participants to identify issues that they require additional help with and to develop strategies for overcoming barriers and obstacles. One-to-one support will also provide the women with supported access to computers and the internet for writing CV's, Excel sheet for money management, exploring employment, further education and training opportunities and making applications. Each person will have an allocated Mentor who will walk hand in hand with them to improve and assist with their finances and future financial situations. We will provide ranging levels of support dependent on the individual needs and requirement. We will improve a person's current situation with their finances and ensure they have the skills and capacity to be able to continue with positive finances through their lives. A big part of the service is to ensure that those who are socially excluded due to debt will no longer be, we will provide family support if required and volunteers will be trained and peer supporters to carry on with the work. Partnering with local groups through referral to extend the service to hard-to-reached women resident in the target community. NEED FOR THE PILOT PROJECT Research from Chartered Institute of Housing (CIOH), Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), Poverty Alliance as well as the UK and Scottish Government's suggest that the poorest 5th of Scotland's population are disproportionately most likely not to have a basic bank account or access to affordable financial services and far more likely to be in the social housing sector, in receipt of benefits and unemployed than those in the top 80% of incomes and therefore vulnerable to the welfare reform, particularly the introduction of Universal Credit ( claimant online accounts will be an issue among the BME communities as only 21 per cent of the population have some internet access at home. Households experiencing financial exclusion typically exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: A lack of key financial products such as bank account; Insurance; Savings products and the financial services that come with them and a reliance on alternative forms of expensive credit such as doorstep lenders; payday loans and pawnbroker. Based on this information, we set out a consultation together with the women in order to address the issue of financial exclusion and to find ways in which these could be improved in our community. We held three events and a focus group discussion to carry out the consultation and engagement process. We actively encouraged maximum involvement throughout the process to ensure a "bottom-up" approach; this means asking women what they want, how best to deliver it and ensure they are actively involved in the project management. The outcome of the consultation and community engagement shows that women in the community are affected by high level of debts, live in households in fuel poverty, in unemployment, inability to claim benefits. Some of them have accessed loans from the loan shark lenders. The women affirmed that financial inclusiveness will help them with the foundational knowledge to succeed and able to navigate the welfare reforms. The consultation enables us to determine whether there is a need for the project and whether there is any third sector organisation in the area currently running similar projects specifically targeting the BME women so as to avoid duplicity. Women were given the task to discussed and come up with activities capable of making the greatest impact in helping the community financially empowered with the hope of creating life opportunities that will make it possible for them to lead a life free from economic & financial exclusion. The outcome of the consultations: 86% (80 households) of our respondent (93 targeted) had no bank account; 100% (93 households) of our respondents had no form of Insurance; 96% (89 households) are currently in extreme fuel poverty and 71% (66 households) are in one to two months of rent arrears; 95% (88) are living in social housing; 90% (84) are in receipt of one form of benefit and 89% (83) are in unemployment. The majority do not have the skills to understanding UC or are able to access benefits for themselves. The common denominator for these women is that they are all affected and impacted negatively by the welfare reforms. Developing financial understanding is the first step in ensuring the beneficiaries have the skills required to deal confidently with every day financial issues, helping them to make informed decisions and choices. To support the importance of financial literacy,Ofsted, suggested" Providing personal finance education can have a significant and lasting impact on women's future prosperity and help them to successfully navigate the financial markets – from mortgages and pensions,to whom to bank with – when they leave education" Director of Education Ofsted, Ofsted 12th March 2008). Access to financial services is a key barrier to financial inclusion whether it is not being able to open a basic bank account or poor credit histories that deter lenders. Runnymede Trust suggests that many people from the ethnic minority backgrounds have serious money issues and a pressing need for money guidance. Women should have opportunities to acquire financial capability and that "women becoming financially capable is one pre-requisite for their personal and social well-being, for their developing roles as responsible citizens in an increasingly complex world and for success in their future working lives." (ibid, 1999, page 12).

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Grant Details

Amount Applied For 10000
Amount Awarded 10000
Award Date 2018-10-22
Beneficiary Location: Country Code GB
Beneficiary Location: Country Code GB
Beneficiary Location: Country Code GB
Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code S03000043
Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code S13002976
Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code S14000029
Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code Type CCG
Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code Type WD
Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code Type WPC
Beneficiary Location: Latitude 55.85746
Beneficiary Location: Longitude -4.255832
Data Source https://scvo.scot/funding/data/archive/community-capacity-resilience-fund.json
From An Open Call? Yes
Funding Org: Charity Number SC003558
Funding Org: City Edinburgh
Funding Org: Country Scotland
Funding Org: County City of Edinburgh
Funding Org: Department Policy
Funding Org: Description The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.
Funding Org: Location: Latitude 55.959611
Funding Org: Location: Longitude -3.190946
Funding Org: Postal Code EH3 6BB
Funding Org: Street Address Mansfield Traquair, 15 Mansfield Place
Funding Org: Web Address http://scvo.scot
Grant Programme: Code scvo-ccrf-r4-strand-3
Grant Programme: Description Funding to help local voluntary sector groups and organisations across Scotland tackle poverty and mitigate against UK government welfare changes.
Grant Programme: Title Community Capacity & Resilience Fund - R4 Strand 3
Grant Programme: URL https://scvo.scot/funding/community-capacity-resilience-fund
Last Modified 2018-12-24T10:08:23+00:00
Planned Dates: End Date 2019-12-06
Planned Dates: Last Modified 2018-12-24T10:08:23+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2018-12-07
Recipient Org: Charity Number SC044265
Recipient Org: City Glasgow
Recipient Org: Country Scotland
Recipient Org: County Glasgow
Recipient Org: Description Hope Amplified works to provide practical help, social and volunteering opportunities for socially isolated and vulnerable people in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire council area. We work towards assisting and encouraging young people's development through a range of educational interventions, creating new and challenging experiences. We are community-led organisation working & supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged family, young and children in every aspect of life ensuring they are given every possible chance to meet their full potential and to participate fully in society. We ensure people from disadvantaged community are given fairer chance to develop their social, employment and life skills. We advance the education of the disadvantaged and the vulnerable in the community by encouraging and developing their innate skills. We run activities including lunch club, home start, jewellery making, music, inter-generational arts, computer classes, befriending and mentoring activities.
Recipient Org: Location: Country Code GB
Recipient Org: Location: Country Code GB
Recipient Org: Location: Country Code GB
Recipient Org: Location: Geographic Code S03000043
Recipient Org: Location: Geographic Code S13002976
Recipient Org: Location: Geographic Code S14000029
Recipient Org: Location: Geographic Code Type CCG
Recipient Org: Location: Geographic Code Type WD
Recipient Org: Location: Geographic Code Type WPC
Recipient Org: Location: Latitude 55.85746
Recipient Org: Location: Longitude -4.255832
Recipient Org: Postal Code G1 4DF
Recipient Org: Street Address Station House, 2nd Floor, Suite 2/2, 34 St. Enoch Square
Recipient Org: Web Address http://www.hopeamplified.org.uk