Council Reveals Results From Poverty Support Programme

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, with the support of funding from Department for Communities, recently appointed a consortium of local community and voluntary sector organisations to deliver an eight-week personalised and diverse plan of support for households in the district experiencing or at risk of food poverty.

Through the Western Response & Action on Poverty (WRAP) Programme, households in need were engaged with through face-to-face contact, often in the comfort of their home, and an eight-week personalised plan of holistic support was developed. To help households improve their lifestyles and sustain changes, the support that was provided aimed to maximise income, reduce household costs and deal with issues such as debt, housing and fuel poverty, as well as promote opportunities in education, training and employability skills, healthy eating and positive physical and mental health practices.

In addition to providing financial support for food and helping households make healthier food choices, WRAP providers worked with other local services and support organisations to ensure each household received the specific support they required.

The organisations appointed to deliver this programme were, Fermanagh Rural Community Network (lead partner), Lakeland Community Care Limited, Erne East Community Partnership (Oak Healthy Living Centre), ARC Healthy Living Centre, The Courthouse Kesh Limited, and Omagh Forum For Rural Associations.

Through £45,000 of financial support via shopping vouchers along with various practical support initiatives, specific to the needs of the client, WRAP helped a total of 143 households comprising of 411 individuals across the Fermanagh and Omagh district.

Commenting on the programme, Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Thomas O’Reilly, said,
“I am pleased that the Council has recently developed this programme and appointed a range of community organisations across the district to support households in need. The Council is committed to ensuring that our people are healthy and well – physically, emotionally and mentally. Through the WRAP programme, we have provided a range of support including, financial support, information on and referrals to other available support and advice on simple, healthier lifestyle changes to benefit households with low incomes.”
62% of households receiving support had one or more children, 31% were single person households, over 50% were home to one or more individuals with a disability and in 19% of participating households, the lead householder was in paid employment. 56% of households were rural households and 44% were urban households.

In addition to £45,000 provided to households in need, via shopping vouchers, to alleviate food insecurity, some of the key wraparound support provided included household referrals to St Vincent de Paul’s and British Red Cross’ emergency fuel support, local independent advice services for benefit or debt guidance and entitlement checks, the Housing Executive oil saving club, the Affordable Warmth Scheme and Bryson Care Emergency Relief “Cost of Living” initiative. Fermanagh & Omagh District Council “Warm Packs” were also provided to households.

Health and wellbeing monitoring was conducted at the start and end of participation in the WRAP Programme through a participant survey. The results from this survey revealed, on average, 56% of participants reported improved health and wellbeing after receiving support through the WRAP Programme and feedback on the programme was positive.

After receiving eight weeks of support, a WRAP Programme participant commented,
“I feel very blessed to have the vouchers to buy food over the last 8 weeks. The scheme took the pressure off, and I really appreciated the help and support of the staff. The staff were fantastic and did not make me feel like a charity case; I was treated as a human being.”

Further information, including contact details for the organisations in the district supporting those in need, is available on the Council’s dedicated cost-of-living page: https://www.fermanaghomagh.com/services/community/cost-of-living-help/.