My name is Gillian, and I am the Life Guide for our brand-new lottery funded project, Rural Aspirations.

Funded for 5 years, The Glendale Gateway Trust will work alongside Bell View Belford and CAN (Community Action Northumberland.

We are here to support the people of rural North Northumberland to fulfil their potential and cultivate an engaged community where people have equitable access to resources and where they can thrive.

The aim of the service is to support individuals who may wish to return to work or who just want to feel more engaged with their local community. People may have been on long-term sick leave, acting as long-term carers and some may be parents looking to return to work after looking after their children.

Focusing on softer skills first which includes confidence building or increasing self-esteem and working with trusted partners, utilizing local knowledge and support, this project will compliment existing provisions.

Why is this important in rural areas? Similar services exist in the south of the county but people in North Northumberland struggle to access services which operate in other areas of the county, which employ people without significant knowledge of the more remote rural areas and the challenges people face. This includes the lack of public transport which creates limited job opportunities and limiting working hours.

Our aim is to work closely with our clients to ensure they enjoy an improved life and help them with digital inclusion skills, enhance their social connections, provide access to peer support, access to education/training, volunteering, work and employment opportunities.

By providing a person-centered approach, we will offer a bespoke support package and 1-1 support that will guide them through their own personal circumstances and aspirations.

We will, where appropriate, refer people to more specialist support agencies such as bereavement support, domestic abuse support and financial support.

Guiding them through each step until they reach their goal, we will keep supporting them until we are no longer required.

To support as many people as possible we will have hubs in both Wooler (Cheviot Centre) and Belford (Bellview) as well as setting up hubs in very rural wards so everyone can benefit from our support.

By promoting social inclusion activities such as exercise classes, discussion groups, craft groups, music, games, interest groups, lunch groups, warm spaces and warm hubs we aim to bring communities together.