LOCAL charity Ilkley and District Good Neighbours is celebrating new funding which will allow it to recruit new staff.

During the pandemic the charity had to reinvent its services and became a key part of the Ilkley Corona Response Group.

“As a small charity this has been a challenging but rewarding time,” said chairman Penny Coulthard. “ The number of residents we supported and the volunteers we worked with was almost triple the normal number. I have to pay tribute to the many volunteers who gave their help and also the local organisations, who worked amazingly well together to support those in need.”

The Ilkley Corona Response Group, with funds from the Round Table and the Tesco’s Bags For Good Scheme, helped fund some of the additional costs incurred during over the last few months. The Bradford Resilience Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund also contributed substantial amounts to cover the extra coronavirus costs.

“We’ve also just heard from Bradford Council that they intend to extend their funding for our charity until March 2022, which is wonderful news and will help us plan for the future,” added Penny. “As a result of our new funding, and as our operation expands, we are now recruiting a manager to work three days a week with the trustees to run the day to day operations and administration and who will help with developing new services for the community and also be involved with our fundraising.

“We are also recruiting a new Shop Assist Co-Ordinator – the present one is retiring after a commendable period of helping many people in the community – and that individual will be responsible for running our shopping assistance scheme overseeing a number of our volunteers. We are hopeful that we will find committed individuals who will enjoy working with our trustees to help build charity and its good work.” Visit info@goodneighboursilkley.org.uk for more information. The closing date is September 18th.