A charity which provides financial advice to people in Knowle West has issued an "emergency" funding plea amid the cost of living crisis. Filwood Hope has been offering help to people on everything from debt and benefits to housing since December 1996, but it is in need of donations in order to survive in its current form.
The charity currently has three part-time members of staff as well as 10 volunteers, but they cannot continue as they are without support. Pearl Aitken, who has worked at Filwood Hope since 2008 and managed it since 2012, told Bristol Live that the centre is in need of £10,000, and without that money they won't be able to serve people in need properly.
She said: "I don't want to beat my own drum but it is a centre that's well used by the community. Sometimes it's routine things, but quite often it's been people that are in crisis.
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"We will have more people coming in the door because of the cost of living, probably some very desperate situations, and of course I think it would be a great shame if we weren't able to offer what we're offering at the moment, and if we had to limit our hours or whatever else it would have an impact on the community I'm sure."
Pearl says that the charity's funding has diminished since Covid-19 arrived, as many of the grants the charity received before the virus struck began to be given to other services which "spearheaded" the pandemic relief effort.
During the pandemic, Filwood Hope didn't furlough any staff, which meant they could keep providing services to people in need. But now they have had to dip into their reserves just to keep up and running.
And without extra help, they might have to start making difficult decisions, including redundancies - although Pearl insists that they are doing everything they can to make sure that won't happen. "There's nothing unusual about the reason why we're in this position, I think we're one of many who are in this position.
"So that's where we've got to, and we're just wanting to do everything we can not to lose any staff or reduce our services in any way, but still wanting to be available to the community at the level we have been for the past almost 25 years," she said. And, with the cost of living crisis putting many of Bristol's poorest people in extremely difficult decisions, Pearl says that Filwood Hope's services are more vital than they have ever been.
"Oftentimes we're the first port of call for people and we're then able to set them on the right road to resolve whatever issue they're looking at. I think at this point in time it's probably needed more than ever".
The emergency appeal, which can be found on Filwood Hope's website, says that they have "ambitious plans", but adds: "As we know from air travel safety briefings, one has to put one’s oxygen mask on first. For us to help our clients towards resilience, we need to be financially resilient ourselves.
"We’ve established some strong foundations to build upon – a new training course equipping clients with financial literacy, a new database and a new fundraising plan – please don’t let us be prevented from supporting people right now. We have some funding and more fundraising lined up but need a buffer to act on our rescue plan. Please help us raise the missing £10,000."
To find out more about the fundraiser and the charity click here.
