North Staffordshire charity launches fundraiser after losing £70k NHS grant
A North Staffordshire charity which supports vulnerable older people has launched a fund-raising appeal after losing its £70,000-a-year NHS grant.
Moorlands Home Link provides day care, an outreach group, meals on wheels, and other services to more than 130 clients and their families across the Staffordshire Moorlands.
But the charity, which has been going since 1986, is now facing an uncertain future following an NHS funding review. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board reviewed its funding for 21 voluntary sector organisations, with Moorlands Home Link being one of three to lose their grant.
The ICB provided the charity with a £35,000 transitional grant to support it until the end of September. Moorlands Home Link, which has 14 staff and over 90 volunteers, is now trying to raise £50,000 to keep it running until next March, as it looks to secure a more sustainable source of funding
Executive manager Sharon Ball says that the ICB's decision came at a time when the charity was already facing increased costs due to factors such as the rise in National Insurance contributions. She fears that the charity's demise would remove a vital lifeline for dozens of vulnerable people, which could potentially put more pressure on the public sector.
Ms Ball said: "We're the only day care in Cheadle and within a 10 miles radius. We wouldn't even be able to signpost people to alternative services because there aren't any on the patch.
"I know that the NHS needs to save money, but I do think the ICB has made the wrong decision. We're still appealing against it and hoping they will change their mind."
Ms Ball says the charity has had funding from the NHS for over 20 years, and previously received £140,000 a year from Staffordshire County Council before the introduction of direct payments.
The ICB grant funded the day care in Cheadle and the Leek-based outreach group, but this funding underpinned the charity's other work at tackling isolation and loneliness. Meals on wheels, for example, also serves as a welfare check for residents who may not get any other visitors.
Ms Ball says charities such as Moorlands Home Link provide a cost-effective way of supporting older people at a time when social care funding is a major problem for many local authorities.
She added: "The voluntary sector is very efficient – we have to be. We've been able to keep going when we've been under pressure. We've probably lasted longer than anyone would have thought.
"At the moment we're just hoping against hope that something will come up and we will be able to continue."
Stoke-on-Trent South MP Alison Gardner is also calling for the ICB to change its decision, saying it will result in more older people having to move to residential care homes.
She said: "It's a crazy situation that is not only short-sighted but also one that will ultimately cost much more than its saves. Home Link has been changing lives for the better since 1986, providing a holistic service that crosses the boundary separating health provision and social care."
The ICB says that grant funding for 18 out of 21 voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations was retained following the 'robust' review.
A spokesperson said: "As a result of the review, funding totalling £2.005 million will continue to be invested into services provided by the VCSE with some modifications to specifications. Savings of £410,000 will be ringfenced to invest back into the VCSE sector to support community transformation, as part of the ICB's intention to protect the funding in a challenging year for the NHS.
"The grant ended in March 2025, however the ICB has funded a six-month transition period to support the organisation in identifying a more sustainable income stream. The ICB has offered support to services users of Moorlands Home Link and that offer remains open during the transition. It should be noted that if a person is assessed and eligible for social care from the local council, they can use their personal budget should they wish to use their funding for day care services from Moorlands Home Link."
The Moorlands Home Link fundraising page can be found here.
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