More groups awarded grants to battle Covid-19
Published: 14 April 2020
The number of community groups and charities in Exeter that have been awarded grants to help people through the Coronavirus outbreak now stands at 35.
So far, more than £57,000 has been handed out by the Exeter Covid-19 Action Fund.
The Covid-19 Action Fund was launched at the end of last month in tandem with support service Exeter Community Wellbeing. It 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.
CEDA Exeter – which stands for Community, equality, disability action – is the latest group to benefit from the fund. They received a £1,000 grant.
The charity provides learning and social opportunities for disabled people in Devon.
Craig Bowman, Manager at CEDA, said the money would help them continue delivering their service using technology.
“We want to support CEDA enablers to run virtual activity sessions for up to 25 isolated disabled adults and young people at a time.
“As well as continuing to offer learning opportunities, it gives vital opportunities to socialise using online platforms and much needed respite for family members/ carers who are now having to support individuals without break during this pandemic,” Craig added.
Craig said that they had been trialling different technology options over the last week but at the same time providing a face-to-face service wherever possible.
Cllr Amal Ghusain, Lead Councillor of Equalities, Diversity and Communities, said: “I’m incredibly impressed with the work that CEDA carries out and that’s why we are more than happy to support them with a grant from the Action Fund.”
Also benefitting from a £1,000 grant is Exeter Community Centre Trust. The money will help the Trust deliver its St David’s Community Help Scheme to support vulnerable people in the COVID 19 emergency with things like deliveries, shopping, collections of food or medicine, dog walking and phone calls.