A £1,500 GRANT will help a Coventry community organisation continue to provide hot meals to homeless refugees and asylum seekers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG) has been awarded the grant after local MP Zarah Sultana nominated them for a grant from Western Power Distribution’s (WPD’s) In This Together – Community Matters Fund.
The fund was established at the start of lockdown to support grass root organisations deliver care to vulnerable people and families. It initially supported over 300 organisations with £500,000 funding. As the lockdown lifted, the utilities company extended its support by a further £250,000 and invited 92 regional MPs to put forward a community group or charity for a grant.
Loraine Mponela, chairperson at CARAG said: “We are very grateful to WPD for this timely gesture. The money will help us to continue providing a hot meal to destitute male and female asylum seekers and migrants living in Coventry through our Right2AMeal project.
“Our members tell us without the meals their lives would have been worse especially during the Covid-19 pandemic where one is required to ‘stay at home’ and charities that provided support on a day to day basis have closed. Thank you for being part of this important work. Special thanks to our MP Zarah Sultana for the recognition and support.”
Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has hit vulnerable and marginalised people particularly hard. That’s why CARAG’s work supporting asylum seekers in Coventry has been so important. I was delighted to nominate them for this fund and I will continue to support them serve people in Coventry.”
Alison Sleightholm, WPD’s resources & external affairs director, said: “We’re delighted that 92 MPs in our regions have nominated deserving causes for up to £1,500 of funding.
“We’re proud that, so far, we have been able to fund over 450 charities and groups within our area. Through the extension of our fund and with the fantastic support of our MPs, we’re able to support even more organisations doing valuable community work.”
