Funding boost for Reach’s housing hopes

Southwell’s own charity Reach is excited to announce that a generous donor has offered £100,000 as ‘matched-funding’ to support the charity’s fundraising campaign for their Southwell accommodation project.

This means for every £1 raised, a further £1 will be released from the matching pot. Julia Sandhu, Director of Fundraising says: “This is a unique opportunity for us to achieve our vision of creating quality housing for people with learning disabilities in Southwell, benefitting families today and for generations to come.

“We’re asking local people and groups to support our campaign and help to create a fantastic environmentally friendly home that is a legacy for the future, bringing peace of mind to local families for many years. Our purpose-built housing for 12 people with learning disabilities will be sited on land adjacent to the Rise housing development. Planning permissions and designs are in place, but we now need to raise the necessary funds for the capital build. Thanks to the generosity of a major local donor, community donations will now be worth twice as much through 2021.”

People with learning disabilities in rural localities like Southwell often have to move away from their community, losing friends, family and support. The prospect of this can cause years of desperate worry for families. This problem was a major driving force for founding trustees when the charity started life as Southwell Care Project in 1999.

Reach now supports over 250 people across the county including at its Reach Southwell and Flower Pod centres. But the need to address the local accommodation problem has remained a top priority.

In 2018, a gift of land on a site earmarked for new housing in Southwell was the much-needed catalyst for the project.

Julia Sandhu says: “Local people have helped us to weather the storm created by the pandemic and we are forever grateful. With the help of the community, we now want to create a long-term legacy offering security for future generations of people with learning disabilities and their families. There will be more information soon about how to get donations matched on www.reachuk.org, or please contact me at Julia.sandhu@reachuk.org.”