Skip to content Skip to main menu

Making Moves and Moneywise Living projects Q3 update

22 Apr 2024

During the last quarter, our Neighbourhood Support Officer's focus was on completing the Making Moves Project and launching the Moneywise Living Project. Our objective now is to provide one-on-one support sessions to help financially and digitally excluded individuals become more resilient and better equipped to deal with life challenges, particularly the increasing energy costs and the general cost of living. With the Moneywise Living Project, we will continue to help with housing issues and benefit advice.

We recently achieved a significant milestone through our Making Moves project. We provided essential support to a young person who had been sleeping rough. We first helped them find temporary accommodation at the Dawn Centre, and later we assisted him in securing a tenancy council property. To make the transition to their new home more manageable, we provided him with a starter pack that comprised of essential items like plates, cups, cutlery, a duvet, a pillow, cleaning products, an electric clothes dryer, and hygiene products.

We also organised a visit to the local fire station for some of the boys at the Freedom Youth Club. We initially reached out to the young participants, and many of them expressed interest in pursuing a career as a firefighter. The visit to the fire station was incredibly impactful, and some of the youngsters expressed interest in attending the career days that the fire stations host during the summer. We've already registered them for these upcoming events and will ensure that they don't miss out on any opportunity that may help shape their future.

The Moneywise Living project has some key priorities over the next couple of months. The focus will be on getting business members to work with our community groups, delivering sessions to participants about topics which would be beneficial for them, such as how pension pots work, how smart meters work and how to budget their money properly.

Our Neighbourhood Support Officer has been supporting adults and young people in reviewing their energy bills to ensure they are on the correct tariffs and locating the cheapest tariffs in their area. We have conducted sessions at various locations, including Wesley Hall, Belgrave co-op housing, Angels and Monsters, Highfields Library, Belgrave Library, and Sound Cafe. A total of 104 participants have benefitted from our expertise and guidance.

The team have also attended several community events during this quarter, have taken part in training sessions, and are continuing to engage businesses, community groups and individuals to collaborate and make positive changes which will benefit everyone.