Darlington Mind has secured £5,000 to fund a series of workshops and interactive sessions to help adults with mental health issues safely navigate the internet. The aim of the workshops is to help keep vulnerable people safe and secure online within a comfortable environment.
The grant will also cover the cost of a specialist information and communications technology (ICT) support worker to offer tailored guidance to people in Darlington, South Durham and North Yorkshire with mental health issues.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
Darlington Mind is one of the area’s largest charities providing support to more than 1,000 people with mental health issues through more than 20 different projects including housing, information and communications technology training, art and creative crafts sessions and dementia day care.
The grant will be used to support more than 100 extra people with mental health issues over the next 12 months, providing courses and support on being safe on the internet.
Gary Emerson, CEO of Darlington Mind, said: “We hear of so many people who are being scammed or misled by people claiming to call from a bank or a financial institution. Vulnerable adults, including people with mental health issues, are often taken advantage of and we hope to provide them with much needed advice and information on how to stay safe online.”
Lisa Whitecross, Branch Manager at Santander’s Northallerton branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations to local projects every year with the aim of assisting organisations, communities and vulnerable people throughout the UK. The staff at our branch know the great work Darlington Mind does in our community in the Hambleton and Richmondshire area and we hope this grant will help them in their support for local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander
Email: Leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk Tel: 020 7756 4543
Gary Emerson at Darlington Mind
Email: contactus@darlingtonmind.com
About Darlington Mind
Darlington Mind is the region’s largest mental health charity supporting over 1,000 people with mental health issues across the Darlington, South Durham, Hambleton and Richmondshire area. With offices in Darlington and Northallerton, a staff team of 50 people and more than 50 volunteers supporting the group’s work, it provides a range of much needed services for adults, older people and children.
For more information please visit: www.darlingtonmind.com
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 March 2018, the bank has c19,500 employees. It serves around 14 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking; and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.