Ladywell Neighbourhood Network has secured £3,000 of funding to help pay the salary of their Project Co-ordinator. The money is coming from Corra Foundation and means fundraising for this post is now complete.
Linda Donald, Project Co-ordinator, said: “Over 250 local people are involved with the Network every year, and the focus is on helping people who affected by social isolation. This can happen as people get older, or because of an illness or disability, but may be because people have young children, are single parents or simply because they are new to the area and haven’t been able to meet anyone. We have a whole range of opportunities for people to get involved and meet each other, including gardening, craft groups, social clubs, and lunch clubs, and we can also provide help with practical things like shopping. Knowing that we have the funding in place to cover the costs of my post is fantastic – without someone to co-ordinate all the activities they just wouldn’t be able to continue.”
Ladywell Neighbourhood Network has been operating for 28 years, and was originally set up as Livingston did not have the same community links as older towns that had grown over a much longer period of time.
Mary Craig OBE, Chief Executive of Corra Foundation, said: “This is a great example of a charity that was set up to meet a particular need and has evolved to make sure it still supports the local community as it has changed over time. Anyone can struggle with social isolation, and having a range of ways that people can get involved in their local community, including through volunteering, gives people a real chance of finding something that will work for them. We know that having basic costs such as salaries covered lets charities concentrate on delivering their vital services, so we are delighted to have been able to make this award.”
