Glasgow charity Street Connect were handed a huge financial boost after being awarded funding of £15,000 through Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect initiative.
Street Connect received the top financial award by earning the most member votes in Scotmid’s West Region; encompassing Glasgow, Paisley, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Stirling and Lanarkshire, at the Annual General Meeting in Bellshill last night (Monday 30 April).
Following an exciting ballot at the AGM, Street Connect were awarded £15,000 while West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare won £7,500 and Glasgow East End Community Carers received £2,500.
Street Connect support disadvantaged individuals dealing with addiction problems and related life-controlling issues such as mental health, homelessness and isolation.
Volunteers at Street Connect’s Outreach Cafés offer a friendly welcome, a listening ear and information on the range of services available which includes rehabilitation support.
The £15,000 funding will be used to refurbish Street Connect’s Outreach Café in Glasgow city centre – improving the facilities and the service provided.
Julie McAddock, Street Connect’s co-founder, said “Winning the £15,000 funding through Scotmid’s Community Connect is absolutely brilliant and will go a long way towards helping us to achieve our goals.
“We plan to use the funding for the refurbishment of our Outreach Cafe, which is badly in need of a revamp.
“The Outreach Café is where we support vulnerable people who have drug and alcohol addiction problems, particularly those who are homeless, in the centre of Glasgow.”
Scotmid Co-operative Chief Executive John Brodie said: “Congratulations to Street Connect, who are the first good cause group in Scotmid’s West Member Region to be awarded £15,000 funding through our Community Connect initiative, which is funded from the sale of single-use carrier bags.
“The outcome was decided by the votes cast by our members and it is great to be able to award all the short-listed groups with funding to enable them to continue the good work that they do.
“Our core purpose is to serve our communities and improve people’s everyday lives, so it is very pleasing to see Community Connect continue to develop into an extremely worthwhile initiative for our members and local good cause groups – bringing people together and bringing worthwhile projects to life.”
In addition to Community Connect, Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Grant programme continues to grow in importance and popularity – last year over 1,000 local community groups applied and were awarded a grant of up to £500 and these projects range from Primary Schools’ breakfast clubs to communal garden renovations.
Image (left to right): Scotmid Co-operative Secretary John Dalley, Street Connect’s Julie McAddock, Andrew Pont and Barbara Matheson and Scotmid Co-operative Vice President Jim Watson.