Communities
In 2019-20 we have:
Focus on:
Salford lunch club to expand thanks to helping hand from Salix Homes
Springboard is our community grant programme, which provides a lifeline to local groups and initiatives that are making a real difference in our communities.
From food banks to dance troops to gardening clubs, during the past year, Springboard has helped channel more than £41,342 into dozens of worthwhile projects across Salford.
One such project is St James Church in Broughton, which provides a huge range of essential services and activities for local people.
Every week, the church welcomes hundreds of people through its doors to its popular lunch club and food pantry, which serves up a free hot meal and a warm welcome to anyone who stops by.
Whether you’re young, old, homeless, living in poverty or just lonely and want a friendly face to talk to, everyone is made to feel welcome, as the group serves up more than 100 meals and 600 cups of tea every week. The church’s food pantry runs alongside the lunch club providing low-cost, essential food packages to more than 50 families each week.
There’s also a packed agenda of weekly clubs and initiatives to help bring people together. From computer club and music groups, to family cooking workshops and men’s mental health sessions, the church is helping to tackle social isolation and unite a polarised community.
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Focus on:
Keeping the elderly and vulnerable warm and well this winter
The cold, winter months can be a difficult and lonely time for some of our older and vulnerable residents, which is why every year we run our successful Winter Welfare campaign.
The aim of the initiative is to ensure our older tenants are keeping warm and well in the cold weather, to ensure they are all set for the winter months, their heating is working, and they know how to access support if they need it.
During 2019-20, we delivered 108 Winter Welfare packs to residents which contain socks, hats, gloves and blankets. Our officers also give advice on how to stay warm and healthy during cold periods, and ensure they are claiming the benefits they’re entitled to.
Tackling social isolation and loneliness is a key issue for Salix Homes. Some of our most vulnerable residents can go for days and weeks without seeing or talking to anyone else, so our Winter Welfare campaign is a lifeline for those people to let them know help and support is out there if they need it.
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Knife crime and mental health top of agenda at Youth Conference
They’re young, they’re ambitious, they’re energetic and they’re brimming with ideas for how to make Salford a better place – they are of course our Boost4Youth panel.
Boost4Youth was established to act as the voice of young people in our communities and help improve the prospects of the younger generation.
The past year has seen them tackle some tough subjects when they held their first ever Youth Conference as part of our Love Your Neighbourhood week of activities.
Knife crime, mental health, body image and drug abuse were top of the agenda at the conference, which aimed to help raise awareness of some of the real issues that affect young people today.
The inaugural Youth Conference, which was planned by Boost4Youth and supported by our Neighbourhood Teams, was hailed a resounding success – helping to open up the channels of discussion about some tough topics and encouraging young people to share and talk about their own feelings and experiences.