Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation (HIWCF) has announced grant awards worth more than £124,000 which have been invested into community groups across Havant, Gosport, Fareham, Petersfield, Portsmouth and Southampton on behalf of Petersfield-based Moneybarn, part of PFG.

HIWCF works in partnership with Moneybarn to deliver grants to support social and financial inclusion for young people aged 25 years and under. This latest round of funding sees a total of £74,250 awarded over three years to three community groups as part of a ‘strategic’ award and further £50,000 distributed to seven community groups.

The three organisations receiving strategic funds include Headway Portsmouth & South East Hampshire who support people with brain injury and other forms of acquired brain injury, their family members and carers; Southsea based The Literacy Hubs, which support young people from the least advantaged communities to develop literacy skills, and Safe New Futures, an organisation working to enable people to overcome barriers to employment or training in Southampton.

Safe New Futures CEO, Nina Kelly said: “We are deeply grateful to Moneybarn and HIWCF for this ongoing three-year funding for a life-transforming course for young people wanting to improve their self-confidence, self-esteem or wanting to overcome mental wellbeing issues such as anxiety or low mood. Research shows that those who are unemployed are more likely to suffer from poor mental health than those who are employed. This generous donation is invaluable in providing ongoing support to enable young people into education, training or employment.”

Moneybarn’s Managing Director, David Shrimpton commented: “Moneybarn are committed to supporting organisations which are rooted in our local communities, helping children and young people to overcome barriers to social and financial inclusion.  We understand the challenges that individuals are trying to deal with as a result of the successive crises that we’ve faced over the last few years.  This has meant that need has increased exponentially, and it’s been important to our business that we play our part by contributing to the voluntary organisations who are at the forefront of service delivery and do such a magnificent job in our communities.”

Jacqui Scott, CEO at HIWCF said: “Our partnership with Moneybarn is highly effective at tackling the key social issues facing young people across the areas of Havant, Gosport, Fareham, Petersfield, Portsmouth and Southampton. Some of these areas have among the highest youth unemployment rates in our region and we’re proud to be distributing more grant funding this year amongst charities and community groups working hard to make young people feel included and ready to take their next steps.  Coming out of the pandemic, fostering a sense of social inclusion and creating opportunities for young people has never been more important - and we’re grateful to Moneybarn for working with us to drive change in these areas.”

First released: £124K invested into social inclusion initiatives across Hampshire - HIWCF