A DROP-IN centre will have new computers for its users to access jobs vacancies, benefit advice and other online services – thanks to a coronavirus fund grant.
Crosspoint in Market Place, Westbury, has been awarded £2,000 from Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Response Fund to upgrade its antiquated IT system. The fund has so far distributed more than £1.5 million through more than 320 grants.
The Westbury group, founded in 2010, is run entirely by volunteers to provide the people of the town with help and advice, counselling, debt guidance and assistance with problems ranging from benefits and pensions to food and housing. With limited public transport to larger towns like Trowbridge, where many services are based, Crosspoint plays a vital role for people who are unable to go online with its laptops, scanner and printer for public use, said treasurer Hilary Fairfield.
“If people don’t quite know where to go they come to us. There are also many people who don’t have the knowledge to do things online or they can’t afford it,” she said. “The computers are a total boon because when people come in to do job hunting we can help them put job applications or their CVs together.”
The centre has been closed to the public in the pandemic but the building has been put to good use – it has been used to store food for Westbury Town Council’s crisis food parcels.
That doesn’t mean the centre’s team of 20 volunteers have been idle, they have switched their advice service online and have been taking calls and signposting people to the services they need if they can’t help them themselves.
“We have dealt with everything from a blind woman asking for someone to help with gardening, applications for state pensions or attendance allowance, drafting letters to courts, assistance with housing issues, referral to Wiltshire Council’s rough sleeping team and social workers, benefits letters, dealing with energy companies and foodbank queries,” added Hilary.
“We are seeing more people asking for help with benefits claims because a lot of people coming to us have not had to do them before and they aren’t sure about what information they need to give.”
There are also computers available at the town’s library but not the support that Crosspoint offers. “We don’t do things for people but we do show them how to do it so they can help themselves.
“A lot of people who are a bit lonely come in because they know they’ll get a coffee and a biscuit while they are on the computer. Others come in to check their emails if they have run out of credit on their phone. There’s an awful lot of people who need help with the digital side of things.”
Crosspoint also operates a free counselling service in partnership with the White Horse Surgery. It has a rota of counsellors who are paid for some sessions and donate others, offering a course of six one-to-ones.
The service has been under pressure since Covid-19 began to take its toll on people and has had to be extended to provide extra places to work through a growing waiting list. It also provides space for advisors from the town’s Hope Debt Advice to meet people.
Hilary said the team are hoping the food being stored at the centre will be gone by the end of the month. “We are preparing for a massive reopening in July, at which point the grant will really come into its own,” she said. “We are aiming to have a much-improved IT offer with individual pods so it is more confidential and updated laptops.
“We are really chuffed that we are going to be able to improve the IT offer, it will make a big difference to people. It will work a lot better and look a bit smarter so we are really looking forward to it.”
Wiltshire Community Foundation joint chief executive Fiona Oliver said, “We have been a supporter of Crosspoint since 2014 with several grants for its counselling. This latest grant will help with an equally essential part of its service, making its IT more accessible and efficient so that people who desperately need to get online can do so in the company of wonderful people who are there to assist them at a time when they need it more than ever.
“In an age when people on low incomes are at risk of being left behind by technology Crosspoint is a brilliant asset to the community in Westbury and we are delighted to support it.”
Find out more about the group at crosspoint-westbury.co.uk or the work of the community foundation at wiltshirecf.org.uk.
Pictured: Crosspoint Westbury chairman Kevin Fairman and secretary Martin Brown outside the Market Place offices which are due to open again in July with new IT for public use, funded by a £2,000 Wiltshire Community Foundation grant.
