Lancaster Employment Development Service benefit from grants totalling £13,000

The team help to find people employment by building their self-esteem and encouraging independence. In the last 18 months, Making Space have gratefully received a number of grants which will do wonders for the service. These grants include £4,500 from the Lancashire Community Foundation, £2,000 from the Skelton Charity, £1,000 from the Morecambe Bay Foundation and £500 from the Duchy of Lancaster, all to support people remotely during COVID-19.

There are a number of projects in Lancaster, now that we're able to meet in person again, which are using diverse ways to have a positive effect on people's confidence and wellbeing. Our fundraising team recently visited Lancaster and the surrounding areas to explore the fantastic work taking place in the region.

The Morecambe Hobby Hub welcomes anyone who wants to sit, chat and play. It offers a relaxed environment for people to play chess, Scalextric and any other game you can think of, whilst chatting to others. As people relax playing their favourite game, they usually also open up more and are then able to chat to like-minded people who may be going through similar experiences and challenges.

The fundraising team were also given a private tour of the Alahambra Theatre in Morecambe, a Victorian theatre that had fallen into disrepair. It has recently become a music venue and offers work to members of the employment service.

On their final stop, the team visited a community Forest Garden based next to Lancaster Brewery. The site boasts 2 acres of beautiful woodland where local people, mostly individuals with support needs, maintain and develop the area. The project, ran by partner organisation Fork to Fork, offers opportunities to work outdoors in a stunning wooded area and acts as an organic food-growing project too.

Making Space recently received a grant of £5,000 to develop the site further by offering electricity via a generator, handwashing facilities, a storage facility and a Yurt. We're looking forward to seeing how the site will develop further. Thank you to Walney Extension Fund for their support.