Independent living charity to benefit from share of £300,000 prize at GSK IMPACT Awards

The Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living (CIL) has been named as one of the ten winners at the GSK IMPACT Awards run in partnership with The King’s Fund and will receive £30,000 of unrestricted funding for the charity.

Over 400 charities applied to take part in the community investment programme, and an overall winner from the ten winners already selected will receive £10,000 of extra prize money at the award ceremony in May.

The Wiltshire CIL supports a wide range of people including those with learning difficulties and older people in the community by offering one-to-one help, peer mentoring opportunities and workshops for people who have extra needs.

Geraldine Bentley, director of Wiltshire CIL, said:“This is a massive achievement for Wilts CIL in a relatively short period of time having only received recognised statutory funding since 2010. I am delighted that all the hard work and dedication of the staff and volunteer mentors has been recognised on such a huge platform as this award.”

The majority of the charity’s trustees are people living with a disability and can share their unique experiences with the people they are helping. This made the charity’s approach to meeting the needs of disabled people stand out during the selection process.

Mr Bentley continued: “We absolutely believe in the right of all disabled and older people to lead inclusive lives in their local community but people need the support and information to be able to do that. Who better to support others than those who already have the ‘lived experience’ of disability or old age, as a staff team we merely facilitate that process and ensure that people can exercise choice and control when it comes to making decisions about their own lives.”

The ten winning charities, including the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living, are now able to access training, development and networking opportunities as part of a dedicated programme organised by The King’s Fund.

Lisa Weaks, Third Sector manager at The King’s Fund said: “Service users are put at the heart of the work that Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living does – it is clear that they are passionate about the work they do. They are a well-run organisation and have grown significantly in recent years. This is an excellent example of a local organisation providing much needed support for disabled people.”

The winners were judged by a panel of charity exerts from a range of roles including the chief inspector of primary care at the Care Quality Commission, head of UK grants at Comic Relief and the chair of The King’s Fund.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Science Museum on 15 May 2014.