As Village Agents, we enjoy being able to respond to people’s situation quickly and efficiently – we pride ourselves on being problem solving solution finders!

This can be from a seemingly simple task of finding someone a gardener to help reclaim an unruly garden that was causing a mental and physical distress, to being able to provide someone escaping domestic abuse the basics they need to start up a new home and keep them safe.

To do this we rely heavily on our Crisis Fund – an unrestricted pot of funds we manage that we can use to purchase things for people in need. People in crisis.

The Crisis Fund has proved to be an enormously valuable and valued extra “tool in the bag” for Village Agents to help people facing personal and family crises.   We haven’t ever actively fundraised for the Crisis Fund before, as the donations we had kept us ticking over, but our team has tripled in size in 3 years in response to unprecedented demand for our services, and as a result we are meeting more and more people in need.

The past year has been our most challenging yet, and this time of crisis and hardship for many in our communities the need is greater than ever, and we desperately need donations towards the fund which has been almost depleted.

So this month, it is a plea for the #LoveSomerset Crisis Fund. To help people in Somerset get out of crisis, quickly and with dignity – https://ccslovesomerset.org/somerset-crisis-fund/

You can donate here: https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/ or to District specific pots:

Mendip: https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/project/mendipcrisisfund/

South Somerset https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/project/southsomersetcrisisfund/

Taunton Area: https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/project/tauntoncrisisfund/

West Somerset https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/project/westsomersetcrisisfund/

Sedgemoor https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/project/sedgemoorcrisisfund/

We help when others can’t, won’t, or don’t.  Some examples of what these grants have been used for recently are:

• To buy 2 mattress protectors for a carer who was supporting their loved one with night time incontinence

• To support a family with funeral costs after their teenage son died
• To buy children’s clothes for a family who had recently lost Dad to cancer
• To buy half a tank of oil for a lady with a chronic health condition who was struggling to heat her home

• To buy a washing machine for a carer who is struggling to keep up with washing demands

• To buy food and drink for a client who had been struggling to get shopping during the lockdown.

Other ways you could help towards the crisis fund are:

Joining our Community Oil Buying Scheme to ensure that you benefit from the best bulk buying discounts on your heating oil. You can find out more here: https://ccslovesomerset.org/oil/. We receive 50% of the small annual membership fee, which goes directly into our Crisis Fund!

Shop on Amazon Smile: Visit https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ and select the Community Council for Somerset as your nominated charity. Every time you shop on Amazon we receive a small %! You can shop online or via the app as normal.

Get Involved! Could you #LoveSomerset and raise money for us? From sponsored runs, to bake sales – every single thing you do would directly benefit the services we can offer people, and help get people out of crisis. Visit our page and click ‘Fundraise for us!’ https://localgiving.org/charity/somersetcrisisfund/

Thank you for supporting the work we do and directly improving the lives of people in Somerset. If you have any questions about the Crisis Fund, please do call 01823 331 222. And if you are struggling please do get in touch via that number or visit www.somersetagents.org/agent-call-back/