The City of York Council provides handyperson, decorating, gardening and falls prevention services in York. There is also a garden assistance scheme for people in City of York Council social housing.

However it is recognised that the demand outstrips provision and that a range of tasks to help people manage their home needs to be available. The Small Tasks at Home grant programme provides the opportunity for community groups to identify what they could offer to meet these needs.

 Applications can be considered that include a social benefit rather than just a traditional contractor model. This could be by neighbourly matching, traditional volunteering, support people to gain work experience or other equivalent models.

What is the fund for?

There is preventative funding that will be made available through the Better Care Fund to enable new groups to establish or for existing groups to increase the range or quantity of tasks they can carry out. We currently fund two ongoing initiatives through this fund with the remaining fund available for 2023-24 being £15,900.

The application can be area specific (eg/ Acomb) or could be for a specific group e.g. older people but does need to be for people on low incomes with signposting for commercial organisations where someone is able to pay. A group/organisation can have a subsidised or free rate.

The application must be for people that can not manage to carry out the tasks themselves or need initial motivation/ life-skills to do so. The applicant would need to decide whether they are making any charge for the materials or require the person to provide the materials.

Priority will be given to applications that create a sustained approach through a neighbourly model or leading to a neighbourly model. 

The tasks must be within the persons home or grounds, this excludes communal areas and tasks that are the responsibility of a landlord.

The fund is available to charities, social enterprises, voluntary and community groups.  There is no potential to guarantee ongoing funding, therefore sustainability of the project should be considered in the application.

What can be applied for:

Any applications need to demonstrate the project would be carrying out one or more of the following in York:

• Tasks to reduce risk of falls
• Tasks to reduce impact of fuel poverty
• Tasks to improve perception of feeling safe
• Tasks to improve wellbeing
• Tasks to help maintain their tenancy where they are unable to do so themselves

For full details and an application form, or a discussion to explore an idea, please contact Carl Wain using the contact details provided.

Closing date for submitting applications: 12 noon, 14^th July 2023