1mpact Bedfordshire is a niche educational outreach project that supports non-English-speaking parents to improve their language skills, building confidence to help improve participants lives and support them to move closer to employment. The project also supports victims of domestic violence.
1mpact is supporting skills acquisition as well as helping to tackle the barriers people face, such as social integration, confidence, overcoming isolation due to language barriers, and improving independence.
The project is being delivered at:
Throughout the project, 1mpact are delivering a range of support, including English speakers for other languages classes, as well as providing wellbeing support and confidence development.
Funding Stream: Community Grants
Funding Amount: £20,000
Project Location: Bedfordshire
Website: https://www.1mpact-group.co.uk/
Contact email: james@1mpact-group.co.uk
School Parents or victims of domestic violence across Bedfordshire are being supported by James Bambridge and Luke Doughty, Directors of 1mpact after their project was awarded a £20,000 grant.
Understanding the language and isolation barriers some school-parents face, James and Luke created the idea of bringing a 12-week learning and development programme into schools.
“We wanted the project to bring people together in a safe and trusted environment. By hosting the sessions in schools, we stopped participants having to go to an unknown, daunting environment.”
The sessions aim to build confidence, break down language barriers, improve independence and social speaking skills – helping people to move closer to work or further training.
Having previously worked on a similar programme, James understood that funding through SEMLEP’s Community Grants, could bring his project to life.
“Completing the Community Grants application itself isn’t complicated, but there is a lot of paperwork. I’ve worked within this sector for a long time, so was familiar with the procedures.
“The most important thing to remember is that although you know what you’re writing about, you need to convey that to someone who doesn’t know you, and what your about and values are.”
1mpact was awarded a £20,000 Community Grant and started delivering their project in September 2019.
“Having recently started a new business venture, we were very pleased to find out we’d been awarded the funding. This was a brand-new project, and the funding gave us the ability to kick start our new business.”
The 1mpact Bedfordshire project will run until January 2020, supporting many participants to move closer to work or training.
“We hope in 12-months’ time, our learners look back and think ‘1mpact really helped us out’. By working with other small groups we’ve made personal connections, which has really helped us to understand how we can help in the area. These types of projects can really make a difference.”
Do you have any advice for someone thinking of applying for a grant?
There is an awful lot of paperwork involved, so it’s vital that you are organised and are aware of how you are going to deliver your project.
Through the project, you’ll have to keep a clear record of your receipts, travel expenses, management time, tutor time and other expenses. We have developed a clear financial template that helps us to quickly get the initial budget right. We’re not pulling figures out of the air and have a clear costed delivery plan.
Ahead of applying for the grant, we ran a number of taster sessions and created a pipeline of potential participants. This meant that when we received the funding, we were ready to start delivering the project immediately.