The Live Well Wakefield team are seeing a growing number of people facing barriers to accessing the right support and services that could enable them to feel happier and healthier.

So we opened Round 17 of Live Well Wakefield Small Grants back in August 2025 to fund VCSE projects that address one or both of these themes:

• 1-1 Digital Support: drop-in or one-to-one support on digital issues and requests, for working age adults
• Getting Out and About: gradual support that leads to working age adults attending community groups and activities, with an end goal to work towards.

We are delighted to announce that five Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations locally-rooted in Wakefield District have been funded, with a total of £67,076 channelled through the Community Investment Gateway.

As with the previous two rounds of this fund, multi-year grants were available to support services to continue and grow.

What was funded?

Red Roof Centre CIC

Connected & Confident

Building on Red Roof’s long-standing foundation of person-centred digital support, Connected & Confident is a two-year initiative designed to tackle digital exclusion among working-age adults. The project will include one-to-one and drop-in digital support, helping individuals complete online forms, access essential services, and build confidence using technology. The initiative will involve weekly sessions at Red Roof Centre in Kinsley, alongside outreach visits for those unable to attend. Support will be flexible and tailored to individual needs and include informal coaching, guidance on safe internet use, and help with NHS apps, job applications, and online banking.

Connected & Confident will promote independence and wellbeing, empowering people to take control of their digital lives, access vital services, and participate more fully in their communities.

St George’s Lupset

Connect Befriending

This two-year project is a new support service where a volunteer ‘befriender’ is matched with someone who may be feeling lonely, isolated, or in need of social contact. This could include older adults, people with disabilities, those with mental health challenges, carers, or anyone going through a difficult time.

The befriender and the individual being supported will meet or chat regularly, and it’s all about building a trusting, supportive relationship to help reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing. The service will provide regular companionship, emotional support and encouragement, and a friendly, listening ear, with the aim of breaking down barriers to getting out and about in the community and enjoying social connection.

This service will run over the winter months when people can face more barriers to getting out and about due to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and safety concerns.

Wakefield & District Society for Deaf People

Digital Access

Many of the deaf community miss out on vital information due to barriers to access – this may be due to information not being shared in a deaf-friendly way or because the deaf community are unaware of the information and therefore do not know to look for it. Accessing things online or through apps means more independence and less reliance on other people.

This Live Well Small Grant will enable Wakefield & District Society for Deaf People to develop their information, advice and guidance service, supporting the deaf community with what to access and how to use it. Their service will allow individuals to book an appointment for support with online forms, questionnaires or documents, assistance with the apps they have on their devices as well as apps they would benefit from downloading to more easily access information they need. This also includes technology that can be useful at work, such as devices that can transmit sound directly to the user's hearing aid to improve clarity in meetings.

The service will meet users wherever is most appropriate to them, whether at Wakefield Deaf’s office, the individual’s home, or at other accessible locations, such as local libraries.

Wakefield District City of Sanctuary

Digital Pathways at The Sanctuary

Wakefield District City of Sanctuary (WDCoS) works to make Wakefield a welcoming place for asylum seekers and refugees seeking sanctuary. Digital inclusion is a recurring challenge and this new project will provide one‑to‑one digita linclusion support for refugees and asylum seekers in Wakefield, designed to increase independence, improve access to online services, improve wellbeing and reduce loneliness.

The service will provide personalised one-to-one sessions for working age (18-67) asylum seekers and refugees. The sessions will last an hour each and will be tailored to the individual, for example, using devices, email, joining meeting rooms, job searches, managing finances, health appointments, and how to stay safe online. A monthly drop-in session on a Saturday will also be open for everyone.

Eastmoor Community Project

St Swithun's Speak, Meet, Cuppa, Repeat

This two-year project aims to support people to get out and about in their local area and to St Swithun's Community Centre. A gradual approach will be taken, from befriending people initially by telephone, to supporting them to take the next steps to feel safe leaving their home, through to being accompanied to the community centre café by someone they know and trust.

Once at the centre, individuals will be introduced to available activities and will be supported to attend these. Volunteers will identify from the outset what each individual hopes to achieve and their interests, so they can be offered appropriate groups at the centre or accompanied to a differentvenue initially for an activity that meets their needs. Over time, reliance on their volunteer support will reduce individuals will have a wider social group.

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The Live Well Wakefield Small Grants Fund is funded by Wakefield Council and administered by Nova Wakefield District using the Community Investment Gateway, a partnership approach developed locally to channel funding to the VCSE sector.