N9 - Kirkconnel and Kelloholm Development Trust
Investment project code: 263
Job Title - Financial and Welfare Support Worker
Amount Requested = £15,000.00
Located in the North West periphery of Dumfries and Galloway, the former coalmining community of Kirkconnel and Kelloholm is regarded as remote rural – being over 40 minutes to the nearest large centre of population.
It is a community that has a low wage economy which continues to suffer the impact of the closure of the coal mining industry and which continues to be regarded as one of the most deprived areas in Dumfries and Galloway.
Access to information and support at a local level is extremely limited with the majority of support services being located in Dumfries. Experience and knowledge of neighbouring coalfield communities has highlighted that many residents are entitled to financial benefits, energy saving schemes and financial services that they are unaware of and/or lack the knowledge and confidence to access.
Kirkconnel and Kelloholm Development Trust, the local community anchor organisation that led on the community resilience plan to support the community deal with the impact of COVID-19 is now planning to open a new Community Health and Well-Being Centre to enhance existing work and create a more holistic approach to supporting the Health and Well-being of residents in Kirkconnel and Kelloholm.
It is to this end that Kirkconnel and Kelloholm Development plan to create a Financial and Well-being Support Worker to help promote and raise awareness of financial benefits and entitlements, energy saving schemes and financial saving/borrowing schemes that we believe local people may be entitled to, as well as support local people access services, either virtually or physically.
Video: https://youtu.be/nR43M7opFWw