Acorn have recently been awarded £10,000 in National Lottery funding. We will be investing the funds in smart phones, tablets, activities and gardening equipment to ensure support remains accessible and engaging for clients in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We made the successful application following a period of adjustment for our services following lockdown restrictions. Each of our services has had to adapt the way they work to comply with government guidance.
The lottery funding will allow us to secure a number of items that will be beneficial to our clients. For our residential services, funding will go towards providing additional indoor and outdoor games for clients as well as tools, plants and flowers for the garden. Lockdown restrictions have forced us to find new ways to keep clients engaged outside of the treatment rooms. While actively engaging in the therapeutic process, our residential clients would ordinarily go out at weekends for family visits or trips out as a group.
Elsewhere, funds will help provide a library of smart phones and tablets, allowing community service clients engage with groups remotely. We’re currently providing these groups over video call to ensure support remains available and conforms to Government guidance. However, access to smart phones or tablets was an obstacle for some clients, preventing them from accessing services remotely. By creating a library of devices, we will eliminate these obstacles and ensure support remains accessible.
‘The pandemic has been a real struggle for everyone but for those accessing services and the providers themselves, it has been an extremely difficult time that has tested the resilience of everyone.
The National lottery funding is absolutely fantastic news for our staff. We can now ensure that all clients have what they need to get the most from our services. We will provide tablets to those that could not join the community groups so that they can access support. For residential clients, it means that downtime outside of therapy can be much more constructive and lots more fun’.
Kerrie Lang, Primary Housing Lead at Acorn Recovery Projects
