HMR Circle given £1,500 from Great Places Housing Group

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The funding will be used to support the Digital Tech Library

HMR Circle has been given £1,500 in funding from Great Places Housing Group’s £100,000 Resilience Fund.

The funding will allow HMR Circle (Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Circle) to provide much-needed support to those who have been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mark Wynn, Director at HMR Circle, said: "The lockdown due to the pandemic has highlighted the digital divide and has shown how not having access to the internet really does restrict the amount of support and information available to people.

"It is through the work with the Digital Tech Library with our partners and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing we hope to get as many people online as possible.

"The aim of the Digital Tech Library is to grow a stockpile of tablet computers to loan out to people who currently don't have access to the internet. Along with loaning out the tablet computers, assistance with instruction and wi-fi support is being built into the programme."
 

Read more: Newly-formed Rochdale Digital Consortium formed to tackle digital povertyPublished: 28 August 2020

Matt Harrison, CEO of Great Places, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to invest in community groups to help them build the resilience they will need for potentially difficult times ahead.”

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (HMR) Circle is a not-for-profit community interest company which works to reduce social isolation in older people through social events, practical support, befriending and a volunteer drivers service.

The organisation celebrated its eighth birthday during the pandemic, which forced it to repurpose its activities, moving social activities online and supporting the Covid Local Response Hubs, set up to provide emergency food parcels, assistance with shopping and delivering medicines, and wellbeing assistance.

Great Places, which manages 24,000 homes across Yorkshire and the North West, set up the Resilience Fund to help communities cope with the continued impact of the pandemic.

A total of 13 community groups and charitable organisations across all five of Great Places’ operating regions will receive a share of the fund.