Cumbria Community Foundation - Furness: Opportunities and Challenges 2021

F U R N E S S – O P P O R T U N I T I E S & C H A L L E N G E S 38 “They can find it difficult to get funding compared with drug and alcohol services for example, or those working with survivors of domestic abuse and rape.” Ali says: “The quality of Third Sector work here is really, really high. We need to be supporting those Third Sector groups more than ever. They were stretched before the pandemic and are even more so now. They want to respond to the residents and communities and need the capacity to do so.” David Dawson is executive officer with the Ulverston based Sir John Fisher Foundation which distributes around £2m per year to Third Sector groups in the area. “In a place that’s quite disconnected in terms of geography, people could not get by without the community spirit and engagement,” says David. “The area is full of talented people. Some of the people that run the charities I know would easily be capable of running large businesses.” He says that the sector is expanding in response to the pandemic, but funding may not be as readily available. “Our own Foundation has struggled during the pandemic just in terms of our finances, so we have not been able to support as well as in years gone by,” says David. Areas of need going forward include linking people to employment opportunities, support for pupils with complex needs, broadening the horizons of young people, supporting mental health, and helping the elderly and isolated. Improved transport will be key, he says, so locals can access opportunities and work – from visiting Furness Abbey which has lost its train station, to reaching jobs in hospitality and tourism across the wider county. Child sexual exploitation is another area of need which is only just beginning to be understood in Barrow and Furness, he says. He says that successful Third Sector organisations are seeing a huge rise in demand including referrals from public services. “I think for a period of at least five years they will need increased resource, and that’s going to be tough because finances will be less as a result of the economic impact of the pandemic.” David believes it is crucial that more funders step forward to give. “There are quite a number of organisations in the Furness peninsula that guide other national charities, give government advice and support, and have won the Queen’s Award. It just points to the excellent quality of the work being done here,” he says. “The Furness peninsula is an incredible area full of community champions, that just needs a little more support to do a massive amount of future work. The Third Sector in Barrow and Furness spans a huge range of service from St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston to Churches Together, from Ulverston Food Waste Project which collects unsold food from shops to be offered to the community on a ‘pay as you feel’ basis to Coniston Mountain Rescue Team which relies on public donations and grants to be able to save lives. “No penny would be wasted in the area. Every penny would be spent wisely.”