A SOCIAL-action programme that was the vision of an anonymous donor in the wake of the pandemic in 2021 is credited with transforming lives in the city of York.

St Michael le Belfrey was given £1 million to set up a post-pandemic fund and establish a programme to help the city to recover from the pandemic. Its focus was to be on addressing poverty, improving mental health and well-being, and supporting young people and families. Its first report was published this week.

The church is currently meeting as a resource church, The Belfrey, in the De Grey Rooms in York, while the medieval church adjacent to the Minster undergoes a building-transformation project.

The new report covers the first three years and sets out details of projects ranging from the setting up of a Christians Against Poverty debt centre to a Safe Families befriending service to support vulnerable families.

Grants were offered to charities working at grass-roots and community level in the city and surrounding area. The small-grants fund, run last year in partnership with the Two Ridings Community Foundation, has awarded £100,000 to 41 charities; another eight have benefited from the Catalyser Fund, enabling them to act as a catalyst for growth, innovation, or sustainability.

Among the projects enabled are an affordable counselling service; a York foodbank distribution point; equine therapy — including new calming indoor space and a new therapy horse — for children disengaged from learning, and experiencing a range of social, emotional, and mental-health needs; and a Chocolate & Co. Café, in York, employing ex-offenders and people recovering from addiction.

Youth outreach workers, warm spaces to help alleviate isolation, and baby clothing for refugees and families are also included. The Belfrey will be collaborating with the homelessness and housing charity Restore York to launch a parish mental-health nurse service in 2025.

“We have been trying to direct resources to where they were needed most, and where they would have the greatest long-term benefit,” the social-action programme manager at The Belfrey, Alison Dawson, said. “The initiatives we have established are all growing and will continue to support the community way beyond the initial three-year period.”