Bournemouth-based life skills charity SafeWise has received £6,800 in funding from Talbot Village Trust, enabling the organisation to invest in vital upgrades to its facilities.
SafeWise has used the donation to improve its office space which no longer met the charity’s needs, creating a dedicated team office, a larger meeting room and a head office operations facility. The funding has also gone towards the creation of a storeroom and a kitchen area for staff and volunteer visitor guides.
Rob Hattersley, Chief Executive of SafeWise, commented: “We are very grateful to Talbot Village Trust for the generous funding which has enabled us to transform our team space. We are now able to offer better facilities and provide a more productive working environment for the team. This will support our new business plan for greater impact in new ‘skills for life’ topic areas to wider audiences, not only in Bournemouth, but across Dorset.”
SafeWise was established in 1998 and operates ‘learning village’ centres in Bournemouth and Weymouth. The charity delivers interactive and practical ‘skills for life’ education programmes for children, parents, carers and home leavers, set within realistic full-size streetscapes and covering key topics such as road and home safety, crime prevention, mental wellbeing, healthy living and emergency situations.
Russell Lucas-Rowe, Trustee of Talbot Village Trust, added: “Safewise provides a vital service to the community, teaching a range of practical and valuable life skills in a safe and supportive environment. Talbot Village Trust is delighted that our donation has enabled Safewise to improve its facilities, creating a much more practical working environment for staff and volunteers.”
Talbot Village Trust meets biannually, and will be accepting applications for funding from both previous and new applicants in the area before the Trustees meet in autumn of this year. Please go to www.talbotvillagetrust.org for more information.