First grant awarded as part of Exeter Covid-19 Community Action Fund
Published: 31 March 2020
A community partnership aimed at giving Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in Exeter a greater voice has been awarded a grant from the £1 million Exeter Covid-19 Community Action Fund.
Exeter Communities Together CIC (ECT) has been given nearly £4,000. The Fund is supported by Exeter Chiefs Foundation.
The Fund was launched last week in tandem with support service Exeter Community Wellbeing. The Fund enables organisations to get rapid access to small grants to allow them to work on local projects to support those people and communities most affected by the pandemic.
ECT is a partnership of grassroots community organisations that delivers events and activities across Exeter. ECT operate out of Exwick Community Centre, which has already identified a projected loss of income of £6,600 from cancelled bookings over the next six months.
Muktar Ahmed, of ECT, said a grant of £2,990 would help protect some staff costs as well as running costs for the group.
“This will not only support the continuity of Exwick Community Centre but also focus efforts on delivering a hardship relief project for those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, as the building will be used for that purpose now that there aren't any bookings,” he said.
He added that a separate grant of £976 would help the partnership provide free meals for the elderly and vulnerable, reducing hardship and isolation during the outbreak. It would also allow them to produce guidance materials in different languages for those dealing with social isolation and distancing.
“We know that some of our residents have limited understanding of English and therefore we plan to use our in-house language skills to provide the guidance in their native language and this includes producing a series of videos.”
Cllr Amal Ghusain, Lead Councillor of Equalities, Diversity and Communities, said: “The work of ECT over the last year has been huge.
“They are contributing to improving the health and wellbeing of BAME communities and society as a whole by developing, as a partnership, shared knowledge and understanding, building sympathy and reducing fear between BAME communities and the indigenous population and reducing social isolation.”
To find out more about the Exeter Grants Programme go to the City Council website