Published: 04 August 2022
We’re delighted to award our second wave of grants through our Brighter Lives programme, supporting over 25 churches and charities in the UK and Ireland to deliver inspiring mental health initiatives.
The successful projects will all play a key role in responding to the long-term impact of Covid-19 on people’s mental health; through greater training, resources and support.
Visit our Brighter Lives webpage to find out more about our new grants programme, and read on to see some of the latest projects to benefit from our funding…
Crosscare, Dublin
Crosscare is a Roman Catholic charity established in 2014 to meet the needs of homeless people in and around Dublin. Recent figures show that the number of people in homeless accommodation has now reached 10,000.
Crosscare works to increase the resilience of people leaving its homeless services, to help them on their way to independence and reduce the risk of recurring homelessness.
£14,000 Brighter Lives funding will help the charity to improve the mental health of people moving on from homelessness, through counselling and peer support. With new staff and more staff and volunteers trained in mental health, Crosscare will have the resources to meet the needs of many more vulnerable individuals.
YMCA North Tyneside
YMCA North Tyneside provides services across disadvantaged areas in the North East, many of which have faced increased poverty and deprivation as a result of the pandemic.
The ‘Y Girls’ project provides a mental health and counselling service for young girls in the area who have been identified as being in need of mental health support and have been referred to YMCA.
A £30,000 Brighter Lives grant will help to train more volunteers in counselling skills and give them the tools they need to deliver mental health first aid training to other organisations working with young people.
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Margaret Clitherow Trust (MCT), Oxfordshire
Margaret Clitherow Trust has a clear purpose to transform lives by serving the most marginalised communities.
With the support of £35,000 Brighter Lives funding, MCT will recruit two Assistant Lead Chaplains to run a team of volunteer chaplains, who will deliver mental health interventions to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community.
The Ugly Duckling Company (UDC), Gloucestershire
In 2021, with the support of our funding, The Ugly Duckling Company launched its ‘10:10’ resource, to help churches, schools and youth groups to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing. 10:10 uses multimedia content to help young people explore different ideas around happiness and living well.
With the support of a £20,000 Brighter Lives grant, UDC will launch a resource for younger children to build their personal resilience from childhood and help them to live happy, full lives.
Ballynafeigh Baptist Church Circuit, Belfast
Ballynafeigh Baptist’s ‘Peaced Together’ programme focuses on women using crafts to build relationships, confidence and self-esteem to repair their mental health in a group setting.
The programme lasts 10 weeks and supports women from challenging backgrounds, including those in or leaving prison and refugees and asylum seekers.
Over the last 12 months, Ballynafeigh Methodist Church Circuit has seen more and more women improve their lives through the programme, but it needs additional counselling to fully support them and enable them to move on.
£1,800 from our Brighter Lives grants programme will help to increase counselling services and reduce the waiting list, so that more women can benefit from this unique support.
