Charities awarded funding including support for older people from the Windrush Generation

Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime, so the saying goes.

For community group Walworth Golden Oldies, teaching pandemic-weary elderly people how to become silver surfers is top of list now that they have been awarded new town hall funding.

The Southwark-based charity supports older people from the Windrush Generation to access health, housing and community services which have mostly moved online during the pandemic.

It is one of 16 voluntary organisations in Southwark to benefit from the council’s new £370,000 Covid-19 funding pot.

Russell Profitt MBE, the group’s chair, said: “This grant is literally a lifesaver for our elderly Black, Asian and minority ethnic users.

“It’s particularly welcome at this time, as it will help us expand our efforts to help improve digital skills of local elderly residents.

“As we all now live in the ‘everything’s on line’ era, it’s critically important that elderly people are not left behind in the relentless rush to make everything digital.”

Other charities to get funding include Opening Doors London, which supports isolated older people from the LGBTQ+ community and Global Generation, which runs an environmental action volunteer scheme for kids in Canada Water called Paper Garden.

Adrian Beaumont, head of operations and communications at Opening Doors London, said: “We are able to utilise this funding with LGBTQ+ people over 50 in Southwark to help reduce social  isolation and loneliness with specialist support services and access to online groups.”

Emma Trueman, manager at Global Generation, said: “Thanks to the Common Purpose grant, we’re able to offer 60 free spaces to local young people on our Paper Garden youth programme.

“As a ‘Generator’, young people will look at how they can take positive action to improve their communities, learning about environmental social justice and how to look after their mental and physical health along the way.

“The project gives them the chance to work with local groups and businesses, get creative, and develop important skills to take with them through school and employment.”

Alice Macdonald, the Southwark councillor with responsibility for communities, equalities and neighbourhoods, said: “Voluntary and community organisations have always played a pivotal role in bringing together communities in Southwark and empowering our residents to lead healthy and fulfilled lives.“But the pandemic has truly brought home how much of a lifeline their services and activities are for our residents, especially the most vulnerable.

“Most organisations who benefitted from our last grant funding agilely adapted their services as lockdown began.

“I’ve been in awe of how they’ve become key players in the community’s COVID-19 crisis response by delivering food and other essentials, and providing support by telephone or online.

“After an incredibly difficult year of being cut off from the outside world, connecting with each other, with nature, and with issues that are close to our hearts has never been more important.

“I’m delighted that such well-deserving community organisations have been awarded Common Purpose grants to help achieve these aims for all residents.”