Community hub set for £10k council grant to help with cost of living support service

A community-run hub in the heart of Wrexham city centre is to receive a £10,000 boost to help provide much needed support to individuals and families experiencing hardship and in need of support.

Yellow and Blue (YaB), on Henblas Street, will receive the financial backing from Wrexham Council as part of its Cost of Living Crisis fund.

The local authority allocated £166,000 to organisations providing vital services during the cost-of-living crisis. This includes:

• £22,000 Wrexham Foodbank – to support expansion of provision;
• £44,000 Warm Places initiative for the Council to establish a grant scheme for local organisations to bid for funding to deliver their ‘Warm Places’ offer (this may include provision of meals);
• £60,000 (£20k per annum/ 3 years) for the Citizens Advice Bureau to extend services specifically to provide additional advice/support associated with the cost of living crisis;
• £5,000 to deliver a number of community based ‘Cost of Living Information and Advice Multi-Agency Events’; and provision of printed materials and information; and
• £10,000 to be administered by housing to explore potential initiatives to enable citizens to have access to local community resources to aid their health and well-being with a focus on the most vulnerable.

On Tuesday (24 January) executive board members will be asked to back a recommendation that £10,000 of the remaining £25,000 Cost of Living Fund is should be allocated to YaB.

A report due before councillors next week, states: “YaB is a non-profit organisation primarily supporting vulnerable members of the Wrexham Community.

“YaB aims to help anyone struggling, facing short or long term hardship, illness and or disability.

“During the festive period of 2022, YaB provided a safe, warm, friendly and free environment in which individuals and communities could enjoy refreshments, social activity, information and advice and the company of other people when many buildings, services and organisations where closed for the Christmas break due to Bank Holidays.

“The recommendation to allocate £10k to YaB would enable the organisation to expand, enhance and replicate their festive provision into spring 2023.

“With domestic fuel prices increasing rapidly, it is expected that many people will struggle to keep their homes at a healthy temperature, particularly those people at home all day, the elderly, vulnerable and home workers.

“YaB is an established Warm Hub pre-COVID and the Cost of Living Crisis. With this additional funding YaB will:

• Provide refreshments, snacks and more substantive meals;
• Meet the additional expenses associated with extending their opening hours e.g. internet, heating, lighting, cleaning and refuse costs,
• facilities for charging mobile phones and IT equipment, enrichment items and activities etc
• Produce promotional material including physical and electronic posters, notices, posts, tweets etc”

Senior councillors will vote on how to spend £97,000 awarded to the local authority by the Welsh Government.

The report notes that £60,000 will be allocated for a Food Partnership Development Grant and £37,000 for a Food Partnership Co-ordinator Grant.

The recommendations will be discussed by executive board members and councillors at a meeting on Tuesday 24 January at 10:30am.