Our Communities Together - a cost of living crisis appeal, South Wales Argus and other Newsquest Wales titles

The cost-of-living crisis has hit people hard and many of the communities we serve in Wales, especially so. The South Wales Argus serves the Gwent area in south-east Wales, which includes authorities such as Blaenau Gwent and Newport, which are among the most deprived in the UK. Research commissioned by the Bevan Foundation showed that in 2021/2, 30.3 per cent of children in Blaenau Gwent lived in poverty – the highest in Wales. Newport, meanwhile, has the highest rate of rough sleepers in Wales. These snapshots show the levels of vulnerability here. Those with the least are always the hardest hit in a crisis.

We wanted to help but didn’t want to make a noise with no impact, so we worked with Community Foundation Wales and brought in all Newsquest’s Welsh titles, from the Western Telegraph in Pembrokeshire to The Leader in Wrexham. We launched Our Communities Together – A cost-of-living crisis appeal in February. Readers, businesses and organisations we asked to donate money that would be used to fund grassroots organisations’ cost-of-living projects. The campaign launch was splashed across our two daily titles (the Argus and The Leader) and covered in our weeklies including the Barry & District News, Tivyside Advertiser and more.To make the most out of each donation, donations up to £25,000 from individuals could be matched, matching every £1 donated with an additional £1. Backers including The Steve Morgan Foundation, The Waterloo Foundation and Moondance Foundation, enabled business donations up to £25,000 to be matched too. The big breakthrough came when the Welsh Government committed £1 million to the fund. This followed a few weeks later by £100,000 pledge from NatWest. We have now given out more than £1m in grants of up to £15,000 over three years to 80 groups across Wales to help people this winter. In October we reopened the appeal for donations so that we can help more people next year. Money has gone to groups providing help such as food banks, heating vouchers, money advice, lunch clubs and more. We have targeted support at community groups because they can best and quickest reach those in dire need. Our coverage and community connections helped bring more such groups forward to ask for funding that the Community Foundation had not worked with before.

We hope the funding will be more than just a ‘sticking plaster’ so have chosen to offer longer-term support of group activities and services rather than shorter-term grants to individuals. This success has only been possible thanks to working in partnership. Without the Community Foundation, we would not have had the relationships with bigger donors to build momentum, nor the expertise to accept donations and deliver grants. Without Newsquest, the appeal would not have had the audience reach and profile to secure the biggest donations nor bring in applications from a wider field of community groups. This is the power of local media, used for the good of the communities we serve.