How £10,000 of key funding will help Hartlepool charity support the homeless

Hartlepool Citizens Advice manager Joe Michna.

The advice service has been awarded the funding as part of the latest series of awards by the Virgin Money Foundation totalling £380,000.

It will use the money to continue providing its Housing Advice and Tenancy Support service.

Joe Michna, manager of Citizens Advice Hartlepool, based in Park Road, said: “The Virgin Money Foundation have been very supportive of our Housing Advice and Tenancy Support service and they have provided us with a grant for the last two years.

“This service supports homeless people in finding decent and affordable accommodation and has been providing services for over 20 years.

“This most recent grant of £10,000 allows us to maintain the service until we are hopefully able to secure additional funding for it.

“I would like to publicly express our thanks and appreciation to the Virgin Money Foundation for its financial support now and during the previous two years.”

The advice service is one of 10 projects across the North East that will share £382,109 in new awards from The Virgin Money Foundation.

Grants are focused on supporting projects which promote youth employment within the region.

Nancy Doyle-Hall, executive director of The Virgin Money Foundation, said: “What a great way to kick-off 2019 by announcing our latest round of North East grants.

“Many of the new grants are focused on empowering young people across the region in their quest for employment, which will help to make a real difference to communities across the North East.”

The latest grants bring the total level of awards made by the foundation to over £6.8 million since it launched in August 2015.

Each successful charity will also be able to take advantage of pro-bono support, training or mentoring from Virgin Money.

People can access a range of free advice from Citizens Advice Hartlepool including help with benefits and employment rights.

Drop-in sessions are available every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 9.30am and 3pm.