Bridgnorth Aluminium has awarded £15,000 to six Shropshire organisations through its Community Fund, supporting projects focused on rural isolation, loneliness, mental health, practical assistance, and locally accessible community services.
More than 2,000 people are expected to benefit from the first awards, which have been distributed through a partnership with Shropshire Community Foundation. The £15,000 forms part of a wider £25,000 charitable commitment during the aluminium manufacturer’s 25th year as part of Greece-based industrial group Viohalco.
Employees at Bridgnorth Aluminium were involved in deciding where the funding should be directed. The six recipients cover different forms of social and practical support, from gardening assistance and supervised exercise to telephone befriending, mobile mental-health provision, and hearing-aid maintenance.
The common issue is access within dispersed rural communities. Around 10,000 people in Shropshire are living with chronic loneliness, while limited transport and reduced availability of local services can make existing health, social, and community support harder to reach.
BizEd Projects CIC in Whitchurch will use its grant for a programme recruiting young people with special educational needs aged between 16 and 25 into a team carrying out garden maintenance and other practical tasks for older, vulnerable, and isolated residents.
The project brings together young people seeking practical experience with residents who may find routine maintenance increasingly difficult. As well as completing physical work, the visits create repeated contact between participants and older members of the community.
Chetton & District Parish Hall has also received funding for its Chetton Active Friends programme. The project has been operating for eight years and provides supervised seated exercise for people affected by rural isolation, combining structured physical activity with regular social contact.
Feed the Birds will expand a nature-focused befriending service in Shropshire. Its grant will fund additional bird feeders and food for clients, using a regular interest and activity as the basis for continued interaction with people who may otherwise have limited day-to-day contact.
Omega, operating under the Ending Isolation, Ending Loneliness name, will extend its telephone and pen-pal befriending services. The additional funding is expected to provide one-to-one support for another 35 socially isolated people across the county.
Shropshire Mental Health Support will use its award to provide mobile outreach. A vehicle staffed by two mental-health support workers will travel into local communities, providing direct support, guidance, information, and emotional assistance.
Bringing staff into rural areas addresses a practical barrier to many support services. A programme may be available within the county, but distance, limited public transport, health conditions, or mobility problems can still prevent people from reaching a central facility regularly.
Community Resource will establish two Bridgnorth Hearing Loss Hubs across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin. The hubs will combine practical help, social contact, and hearing-aid maintenance, providing local support for people who might otherwise have to travel further for relatively straightforward assistance.
Hearing-aid maintenance has a direct effect on everyday communication. Equipment that is not working correctly can make conversations and social contact more difficult, increasing the impact of existing isolation for people already experiencing hearing loss.
The six awards mark the first distributions from the Community Fund. Bridgnorth Aluminium launched the initiative in partnership with Shropshire Community Foundation, with employees contributing to the selection process and the overall programme tied to the company’s anniversary year.
“Around 10,000 people in Shropshire are living with chronic loneliness and many rural communities face additional barriers such as poor transport links and reduced access to services,” said Adam Thorpe, learning and development supervisor at Bridgnorth Aluminium.
He said the company wanted to support projects producing a direct effect within communities, citing the programme linking young people with special educational needs to older residents and the mobile mental-health project as examples of the different forms of support being funded.
Bridgnorth Aluminium operates the UK’s last surviving aluminium coil rolling mill and is marking 25 years as part of Viohalco. Its Shropshire manufacturing operation gives the fund a close geographical relationship with the workforce involved in selecting the recipients.
Shropshire Community Foundation trustee Roger Pemberton said the fund would contribute to work tackling loneliness and isolation across the county, with the six organisations providing services aimed at different groups and locations.
The £15,000 allocation leaves the first Community Fund awards as one part of Bridgnorth Aluminium’s wider £25,000 charitable commitment. Delivery now moves to the six recipient organisations, with the funding supporting additional residents through transport, befriending, exercise, garden maintenance, hearing-loss assistance, and locally delivered mental-health support.
