Community Cashback Fund – Voting is Now Live!

 

We’re delighted to announce the final week’s shortlist who will each receive a proportion of the £5000 weekly fund. They are Parenting NI, Nexus NI, Eating Disorders Association NI & Cruse Bereavement Care – congratulations!

Now, it’s over to you, our shoppers, to vote for who you want to receive the top grant of £2000 – just click on the voting form below.

Voting closes on 24th May at midnight and the winner will be announced on this page and on the SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVO and VIVOXTRA social media pages on 25th May 2020.

The group that receives the most public votes will receive £2000 (1st place), the group with the 2nd most votes will receive £1500 (2nd place), the group with the third most votes will receive £1000 (3rd place) and the group with the fourth most votes will receive £500 (4th place).

 

Parenting NI

Parenting NI is a unique family support organisation with a focus on prevention and early intervention, supporting and empowering parents to improve outcomes for their children and young people using evidence based practice. Parenting NI provides a diverse range of family support services for parents based on the needs of individual parents and families, focusing on improving the lives of children, young people, their parents and their wider family.

Parenting NI understand the stresses families are experiencing during this unprecedented time with the threat of COVID-19. It carried out a survey with parents from NI to source their views during this pandemic, with results showing that 78% of families are struggling and 74% of parents stated their children are finding this pandemic difficult with the main issue being emotional health issues. In support of its service users Parenting NI have launched “Parenting through the Pandemic” sessions. The sessions include supporting parent’s emotional wellbeing, enabling parents to support their children’s emotional health and managing children’s challenging behaviour with an aim of reducing family stress. These online sessions will enable parents to understand the issues more, providing activities to enable them to self-reflect on how they are managing the issues within their family and then provide them with strategies and tips they can implement to help improve the situation within their family. During the online session parents can ask questions, get specialist advice and engage with other parents so they feel less isolated.

After the session Parenting NI will continue to be there to support these parents via the Free Support Line, as the session might raise further concerns that require specialist help.

 

Nexus NI

Nexus NI is the leading charity supporting victims of sexual violence in Northern Ireland. As an organisation, it aims to break the silence on sexual violence and support all those whose lives have been affected by this issue.

It’s key area of work includes; provision of one to one counselling for victims of sexual violence, confidence building activities, domestic and sexual abuse 24 hour helpline, delivering education and preventative sessions in schools and the delivery of training for professionals who could encounter or work directly with at risk individuals or victims.

Statistics have revealed that other countries experiencing lockdown show a 300% increase in calls to domestic and sexual abuse helplines. To prepare for this Nexus NI has recruited volunteer helpline operators, who need mobile phones to be able to carry out their work safely offsite. This would mean Nexus could cope with increased demand for helpline services and enable victims to get access to the support they need.

Nexus has seen a 20% increase in calls to the helpline in recent weeks as well as its highest ever demand via the webchat feature. During periods of isolation victims have more time to reflect on the trauma they have suffered, be that past or present, making its support services vital.

 

Eating Disorders Association NI

Eating Disorders Association (EDA) exists to provide support, information and understanding to people with eating disorders as well as their families and friends. EDA works determinedly to raise awareness and reduce the stigma often associated with eating disorders. It strives to ensure that individuals struggling with an eating disorder know that they are not alone.

EDA aspires to provide a comprehensive service which wholly reflects the complexity of eating disorders. Its services include, 1-1 Support, 24-hour helpline, email support, face to face support groups, online support groups, early intervention and prevention workshops. EDA endeavours to deliver a first-class service providing support, hope and understanding that will facilitate and enable the person’s individual journey to recovery. EDA strives to instil hope and the realisation that recovery from an eating disorder is always possible and with the right help and support, recovery can become a reality.

EDA’s online support platform is a vital resource which is providing crucial support to those affected by eating disorders and their families. The demand for its services has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and the charity anticipate a very real potential surge in demand post COVID-19. This platform enables EDA to provide a lifeline to many people who are feeling trapped not only in this isolating and destructive illness but also now due to COVID-19.

 

Cruse Bereavement Care

Cruse Bereavement Care offers support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies. Its aim is to offer everyone somewhere to turn to when someone dies. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a natural impact upon the number of people who need the support of Cruse more than ever, calling for an increase in demand for the services Cruse offers.

It aims to offer an immediate source of bereavement support and advice to anyone who has lost someone during the Covid-19 crisis. Cruse are adapting its services to ensure that all bereaved people can access support both now and in the future. Face to face support has been halted with all services now being offered via telephone, email and a new range of digital support services.

Funding is required to meet this increase in demand in order to train existing volunteers to provide support by telephone and email as well as the recruitment and training of new volunteers.

Many families no longer have the opportunity to be with someone who is dying or to say goodbye in person. Wakes cannot be held, loved ones cannot be brought home or to places of worship stripping away the opportunity for individuals to grieve. It is vital that bereaved people have access to the support they need in order to reduce any negative impact on their mental health making the services of Cruse Bereavement Care extremely prevalent.

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