The Mayor of Farnham handed over a cheque for £1,200 from the Farnham South Street Trust to help Farnham’s Opportunities Community Project fund free courses for local lone parents.
Councillor Mike Hodge, Mayor of Farnham says: “The Opportunities Community Project does an amazing job of helping lone parents in our community get back their independence, get into work and build brighter futures for themselves and their families. As well as their free IT training courses, they run all sorts of courses and activities – like these craft courses – all supported with free childcare, helping lone parents get their lives on track.”
The Opportunities Community Project provides the free training and childcare to help lone parents develop their skills and build their confidence ready for employment. It will use the money to run three terms of craft courses covering glass painting, wood and leather burning, felting, basket weaving, crochet, claywork and spinning (turning fibres into yarn).
The South Street Trust is a charitable trust administered by Farnham Town Council providing funding for art-based educational activities. It is one of a number of sources of funding available to community organsiations in the Farnham area.
The South Street Trust was set up following the sale of the Farnham School of Science and Art in 1986/87. The school was established by local philanthropists James and John Knight in 1880 for the ‘instruction of children and adults in drawing, painting, modelling, designing for architecture, manufacture and decoration and for no other purpose’.
The Opportunities Community Project began life offering IT courses and childcare to lone parents but has extended its services to include life and employability skills to improve people’s confidence and therefore their prospects of finding work.
