Over the last twelve months, the Jersey Community Foundation (JCF) has distributed over £1 million from dormant bank accounts through their Coronavirus Response Fund.
JCF has used these funds to give meaningful financial support to over 30 local Jersey charities, initially offering emergency grants as an immediate response to the most pressing needs caused by the pandemic.
As things start to return to normal, however, the levels of need are still there. Anna Terry (pictured), CEO of the Foundation commented: “The demands for funding have changed since the start of the pandemic, we are seeing less demand for food banks and emergency accommodation.
“The longer-term effects of lockdown, the traumatic experience of Covid-19 for some and compounding factors have led to an increase in demand from mental health services, support for domestic violence and longer-term support for homeless services amongst others.”
In the latest round of awards over £100,000 was made to four projects:
- Jersey Women’s Refuge: £50,000
- Causeway Association: £7,800
- St Johns Ambulance: £20,000
- Jersey Action Against Rape: £30,000
As one of the recipients of an award, Jersey Action Against Rape (JAAR) confirmed that they were delighted to be granted £30,000. Zoe Collins-Fisher, Community Engagement Officer from JAAR confirmed: “During the first ‘stay at home’ order in March of 2020, JAAR started to receive an increase in people reaching out, asking for our help to support them on their healing journey.
“Towards the end of 2020, we were in the unfortunate position of having to tell clients that there was 9-10 months waiting time for our services. However, with the help and support from the JCF and other donors, we have now been able to increase the number of counselling hours and have worked hard to reduce this waiting time to 12-14 weeks.
“Since JAAR opened in 2015, we have provided over 2,800 hours of free counselling to survivors and their families in Jersey and we are only able to continue providing and improving this support thanks to the generosity of grant givers such as the JCF.”
The next closing date for applications from the Coronavirus Response Fund is Sunday, 12th September. If you would like to apply for a grant or have any questions about a project, click here to contact JCF.
