Worcester Municipal Charities (WMC) has announced it will issue five major 'relief in need' grants to local charities totalling over £300,000.
The decision was revealed in their annual meeting in January and is in line with their commitment to those in need in the region.
The charities lucky enough to receive the significant financial contribution are Citizens Advice Worcester £205,865, Worcester Community Trust £45,691, Maggs Day Centre for the Homeless £35,198, Armchair Free Furniture £18,998, and Shopmobility Scooters £7,000.
This year, the proposed grants have been increased by 6.7 per cent due to inflation and are subject to satisfactory applications by the charities.
Citizens Advice Worcester was awarded by far the largest grant of £205,865, reflecting its dedication to providing free advice on benefits, money management, housing, debt counselling and legal matters.
A further £36,374 was awarded to CAW for its rent-free office accommodation at the Old Glove Factory where it's homeless service 'SmartLets' is based.
Charity chairman Paul Griffith MBE said: "During 2022/2023 their Money Management Adviser, sponsored by WMC, interviewed 93 individual clients helping them deal with 307 issues relating to benefits, energy/water bills, finances, employment and debt issues.
"He also assisted a further 131 individuals supporting them with multiple issues at the Worcester Open-Door Drop-in Advice Service' sessions."
Mr Griffith added: "The Local Citizens Advice Debt and Money Service also advised and assisted 1,494 clients, to reschedule or receive a ‘write off’ of debts amounting to £875,000 in total, across all their services.
"In addition the Debt Caseworkers obtained other financial gains for clients of £357,696 in total across all their services."
This initiative not only helped over 5,150 clients in Worcester in the last year but also facilitated financial gains totalling £2.5m across all Citizens Advice services.
The importance of services like Citizens Advice isn't to be underestimated.
Recent national figures revealed, within just nine months in 2023/24, 1368 individuals in Worcester requested crisis support from Citizens Advice.
In 2022/23 it issued 1,782 foodbank vouchers to the Trussell Trust Foodbank, feeding nearly 5,000 people.
The trustees will pay the grants in instalments throughout the year.
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