Routes to Roots has been awarded a £15,000 grant from Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales to fund the costs of volunteer training and a Client Assessment and Outcome Monitoring Database. The charity already keeps paper-based client records of all those attending its drop-ins and participating in the activities it offers, in order to monitor and evaluate its services. This grant will greatly strengthen its effectiveness in working with homeless and vulnerably housed people in Poole and in developing and enhancing the skills of its volunteer base.
In addition to grant funding the charity is able to take advantage of non-financial support through the Foundation’s Enhance Programme – such as mentoring, consultancy and technical support – provided by a range of partners including Lloyds Banking Group.
The charity has two part-time staff and over 80 volunteers.In 2014-15 they worked with 247 individuals, serving 4022 meals at two afternoon and two evening drop-ins. In partnership with the Fisherman’s Café in Poole they also provided a full cooked breakfast for rough sleepers in the cold winter months from December 2014 to March 2015. Routes to Roots assisted 47 individuals (all sleeping outdoors in Poole) in this way, funding 755 breakfasts.
Susan Gittins
