News

Worcestershire charity, the Old Needleworks Foundation, has been awarded £18,000 from the Severn Trent Community Fund.

The funding has supported plans for a family-focused project where face-to-face or virtual support is given to parents and families. This support ranges from food and nutrition to mental and physical health to help on dealing with anxiety.

Elaine Grant, from Old Needleworks Foundation said: “Severn Trent funding has enabled us to provide a lifeline to parents and families through what has been unprecedented difficult times for them. The parents we support often have complex challenges to face anyway in their family lives, so the added pressures of the pandemic have been devastating.

“We have supported such families emotionally and practically, enabling them to be strong and resilient in the face of the difficulties and find a renewed hope for the future. Many of these families are now giving back to others and are actively involved in volunteering for the charity.”

Daisy Powell, Community Fund Manager from Severn Trent said: “Projects like these are the essence of what our Community Fund aims to support. Seeing the positive change it can bring about is very exciting.

“Being able to provide support for families who have truly needed it is something that is very near to us. The pandemic has made parenting, an already challenging job, many times harder and so supporting a project that can help these parents in a multitude of ways come to life is amazing.”

Severn Trent’s Community Fund was created for community groups and projects that aim to improve community wellbeing: 

• People: Projects that help people to lead a healthier life and gain new skills.

• Places: Projects that help to create better places to live in and use.

• Environment: Projects that will help look after our natural environment.

To find out more about the fund, and what projects have been awarded, please visit stwater.co.uk/communityfund.