Liverpool Women’s Charity at Blackburne House expands services thanks to Barclays donation

Women’s Technology Training Ltd (known as Blackburne House) is one of 100 UK charities to be awarded a £100k donation from Barclays chosen for the meaningful work they are doing with supporting women and their families in accessing essential services such as counselling and wellness interventions.

Charities were invited to apply for one of 100 donations of £100,000, and Barclays were inundated by hundreds of applications from charities across the UK who are struggling to deliver on-the-ground support to vulnerable communities impacted by the crisis.

Barclays launched their 100×100 UK COVID-19 Community Relief Programme to support COVID-19 relief work in local communities. The programme, which forms part of their wider COVID-19 Community Aid Package, focuses on supporting UK charity partners who are meeting the immediate needs of people in our communities, including low income families, those facing financial hardship, isolated elderly people and key workers.

Merseyside has 66,000 people recorded having a mental health condition, with depression, anxiety and severe mental health illness being the top three. Residence of Merseyside has to wait five times longer than the national average to receive any mental health service. It means having to wait 145 days for any intervention, and the national waiting time is 31 days.

There has been nationwide decline in mental health and especially in women, so the grant received from Barclays will help the many of women in Merseyside to gain the assistance quickly to manage life crises by enabling them to access these vital services.

Andrea Rushton, Executive Director of Operations, Blackburne House, said:

“As a women’s organisation we have been educating women for 37 years but it now necessary to widen and broaden our offer and provide additional services for women when in crises. Covid and the subsequent lockdown has seen a decline in mental health, increases in domestic abuse which has impacted on already overburdened local services. With these funds we are now able to increase our essential wellness and counselling interventions to support women and their families through the life crises they may face.”

Nigel Higgins, Barclays Chairman, said:

“COVID-19 has created an unprecedented social and economic impact in the UK, with many experiencing greater hardship due to the crisis. Incredible charities, such as Women’s Technology Training Ltd have been playing a vital role in the UK’s response to the pandemic, ensuring urgent help reaches those most in need of support. As a bank we have been doing all we can for our customers, clients and colleagues, and we hope that by partnering with Women’s Technology Training Ltd and many other charities across the UK, collectively we can ensure that as many people as possible in the communities in which we live and work are supported through this crisis.”