Sovereign pledges £150k for communities affected by COVID-19

Sovereign Housing Association has donated £150,000 of emergency funds to support communities and individuals across the south of England affected by COVID-19.

In pledging the cash, the housing organisation is keen to bolster groups and organisations already rallying to provide support to the most vulnerable people in society.

The funding will be awarded via charity partners the Greenham Trust using The Good Exchange platform, and the Crowdfunder stream ‘payitforward’ .

Sovereign has pledged £50,000 to the Greenham Trust’s new fund, which focuses on organisations in West Berkshire and North Hampshire that can:

• Help older or vulnerable people or people with chronic underlying health conditions or diseases in self-isolation or quarantine who need access to food, medicines or social care
• Provide more support for foodbanks
• Increase the number of meals on wheels deliveries to support older people
• Provide financial, employment and debt advice
• Give counselling, suicide prevention and mental health support for those who have for example, lost their jobs, are grieving or are in crisis
• Support those who are homeless or in temporary accommodation

A further £50,000 will be allocated to community organisations already known to the organisation, across Sovereign’s geography – which stretches from West Berkshire to Cornwall, Bristol to the Isle of Wight.

Matt Buckham, Communities Director for Sovereign Housing Association, said:

 “As we fight as a nation against coronavirus, we’ve fast-tracked our money support programmes and grants. Working with The Good Exchange and Greenham Trust, this funding means we’ll maximise the goodwill and hard work that’s already going on out there, as people do brilliant things to support their communities. We’re also revisiting applications from groups and organisations who had previously been shortlisted for funding with us and we’ll be allocating this new pot of money accordingly.”

Sovereign is also adding £50,000 to the Crowdfunder ‘pay it forward’ campaign, set up to support independent community businesses like restaurants, live venues and pubs as well as individuals like taxi drivers, beauticians and other small businesses to survive the effects of coronavirus.

Matt continued: “We are committed to providing great homes in great places and we know that small businesses are what make places thrive. That’s why we’ve made our donation to the #payitforward campaign to keep those businesses going strong.”