Riverside has supported the Wor Hoose Community Project in Walker with a grant of £10,000 to help local children overcome social exclusion.

The Wor Hoose Community Project was set up by residents in 2001 to help local people overcome social exclusion and improve their lives with a focus on locally provided activities and services.

Wor Hoose supports individuals and families who live in disadvantage; the Office for National Statistics (ONC) census 2013 shows that Walker is in the top 7% of the most deprived wards in the country. Furthermore the End Poverty Charity said in 2013, Walker had 56% of children living in poverty (double the city average) and Save the Children Campaign also state in 2014 children who grow up in poverty suffer not only in relation to lack of income but also from poverty of aspiration, opportunity and experience.

The grant from Riverside will enable Wor Hoose to run a weekly after school and homework club for one year for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years who live across the Hexham Avenue estate and in surrounding parts of Walker.

Stella Hughes Riverside’s Project Officer (Community Engagement) said ‘Investing in grassroots community organisations like Worhoose who work closely with families to address social exclusion issues is an important part of the work we do in communities to help them thrive’.

This project also encourages regular school attendance. One rule of the club is that children who attend the club must also go to school on that day.  Other outcomes will include reduced truancy and increase in punctuality, better behaviour for learning approaches, engaging with families and children to improve basic learning skills, improving personal and social skills, involving parents in developing their own education as a way of supporting their children and improving the core skills, learning, personal skills and employability of young people aged 5 – 11 years.

Steven Russell, Outreach Worker said “Living in poverty can have serious impacts for children. It can set back a child’s ability to achieve and be successful in education and damage their entire life chances.  Thanks to the funding from Riverside, our after school and homework club will hopefully change this cycle for children living in the area.”