8 Lincoln Charities celebrate after receiving £701,427 from the Government Community Renewal Fund to deliver locally-led, innovative projects that will help breathe new life into the City of Lincoln.

Eight Lincoln charities (Abbey Access Training, developmentplus, Green Synergy, Lincoln City Foundation, LEAP Housing, YMCA Lincolnshire, The Bridge Church and The Network) are celebrating a successful funding application from the UK Community Renewal Fund which will deliver a wide range of innovative projects across the City of Lincoln.

The eight Lincoln charities, already aligned strategically and working in partnership, have come together to utilise their local insight and knowledge to pilot projects that will impact on local growth, strategic priorities and community renewal. These pilot projects will springboard future activities for the forthcoming UK Shared Prosperity fund.

Gail Dunn, CEO of Abbey Access Training stated “We are all absolutely delighted to receive £701,427 of this funding to deliver a range of innovative opportunities and support to the people of Lincoln. The partnership shows a real strength in the third sector and a commitment to supporting local people. The project is centred around a range of activities to help Covid-19 recovery, help individuals overcome isolation, deal with skills gaps, retraining, mental health, engagement and provide an umbrella approach to improve community cohesion across the City. We are excited to deliver all our project ideas in a COVID safe and secure manner”.

Community Project Mentors will be active in the local area, knocking on doors to inform local residents of the extensive offer of support; signposting to support; community activities and groups; short courses; six-month skills training programmes; Traineeship programmes; ESOL classes and much more.

With this funding developmentplus are able to extend the “Step in the Right Direction Project” which is an intensive coaching and mentoring programme that supports individuals furthest from the employment market to address the many barriers preventing them from moving forward before supporting them to access employment, training or education opportunities. STEPS will give people an opportunity to explore possibilities, make informed choices and set a realistic action plan, working at a pace to suit them.

If you would like to find out more about our project please contact alexandra.chambers@developmentplus.org.uk or 07468126037