Buckinghamshire Council announces financial support for carers in partnership with Carers Bucks
Buckinghamshire Council, in partnership with Carers Bucks, is delighted to announce a new financial support initiative for carers residing in Opportunity Bucks wards. This support comes in the form of a one-off £125 cash payment funded by a Government grant, aimed at alleviating the cost-of-living pressures faced by our community’s most dedicated individuals. A total of 2,737 carers in Bucks are eligible for this.
The one-off payment is funded by the Government’s Household Support Fund from the Department for Work and Pensions and targeted to carers within Opportunity Bucks wards. The Opportunity Bucks programme is the council’s flagship programme to improve opportunities and reduce hardship for people in 10 wards across Buckinghamshire, which are in Aylesbury, Chesham and High Wycombe.
Eligible carers will receive a secure link via a letter from Carers Bucks to provide their personal details, including bank information, to process the payment swiftly and securely on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council.
For any queries or further information, Carers Bucks is available to assist. They can be reached at 0300 777 2722 or via email – mail@carersbucks.org. Additionally, residents can seek cost of living support from the Helping Hand team by submitting an application at the Buckinghamshire Council website or by calling 01296 531151.
Council collaborates with Citizens Advice Bucks to help streamline financial support for residents
Buckinghamshire Council has commissioned Citizens Advice Bucks to support those struggling with debt. Providing debt, welfare benefits and money management advice at no cost, the organisation will be supporting residents with long-term solutions.
Recognising that financial challenges continue for many of its residents, Buckinghamshire Council is pleased to be working with Citizens Advice Bucks, a local, well-known charity, who last year alone supported residents to clear £800k of debt and gain additional incomes worth £2.5 million.
The commissioned service will enable a stronger working partnership between the two organisations with customers being directly referred through the council to Citizens Advice Bucks – improving the time it takes to receive help.
Council boosts support for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing
Buckinghamshire Council has awarded funding to a range of local groups and organisations running initiatives which promote positive emotional wellbeing for children and young people.
A total of £90,518 has been provided from the Young People’s Wellbeing Fund to eight different projects across Buckinghamshire:
- Action 4 Youth: Mentoring for vulnerable young people aged 11-18 in Wycombe and South Bucks to reduce mental ill health and equip participants with the tools to manage their emotional wellbeing.
- Buckinghamshire Mind: Mental health and wellbeing afterschool clubs for children aged 7 – 11, teaching the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ and mindfulness strategies, using a variety of creative activities and picture books to communicate and embed learning and strategies.
- Global Feedback Ltd (‘Feedback’): A project hosting school holiday events, workshops and weekend ‘cook-alongs’ using food as a hook for young people to understand the connections between food and mood.
- Mindful Ballers CIC: The programme combines mental health education, social skills training, trauma specific therapies and mentoring alongside physical activity to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young men aged 14-16 who are at risk of or have been in contact with the Criminal Justice System.
- One-Eighty: A preventative mental health project supporting vulnerable young people aged 11-13 transitioning from Primary to Secondary school.
- Sport in Mind: Provides 2 x 1 hour sport and physical activity sessions for young people aged 10-14 experiencing poor mental health across 39 weeks.
- Wycombe Swan Theatre (Trafalgar Entertainment Trust): A wellbeing and performing arts focused project for supporting LGBTQ+ young people aged 14-18.
- Youth Concern: A weekly mental health support group and counselling service for gender nonconforming young people.
Applications were invited for projects which promote positive emotional wellbeing for children and young people through activities that fall outside of the school day. Applicants were encouraged to aim for activities which would help children and young people to feel more comfortable talking about mental health, understand ways in which they can look after their mental health and to have increased awareness of further support available if needed.
To be eligible for funding, projects were required to be working with children and young people up to the age of 18, or if entirely focused on care leavers or young people with disabilities, up to the age of 25. They were also required to be working with children and young people who are either from a community identified as at higher risk of poor mental health and/or living in an Opportunity Bucks ward.
The Young People’s Wellbeing Fund was first launched in 2023. It is administered by Heart of Bucks on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council. A funding panel considered all the applications. The panel was chaired by Heart of Bucks Trustee Pippa Kirkbride and included four panel members from Heart of Bucks, four panel members from Buckinghamshire Council and three young people.
Childcare support is expanding in Buckinghamshire
Eligible working parents in Buckinghamshire with children aged +9 months can apply for hours of funded childcare for use in a variety of settings, including nurseries, pre-schools and childminders.
If you are an eligible working parent, you can now apply for:
• 15 hours childcare if your child is aged 9 to 36 months
• 30 hours childcare for your three or four-year-old
You will need to apply by 31 August 2024 to use your hours from 1 September 2024. To do so, visit GOV.UK to get your code for a place in September and then share it with your childcare provider. To continue receiving the Government support, you will need to reconfirm your details every three months on your GOV.UK account.
This comes alongside other government childcare support, including Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit Childcare. You might be able to use more than one offer together to help with your childcare costs.