Over the course of 2018/19 we have been reviewing the value and impact of our investment into Personal Support Grants for people living with our conditions.

The charity discovered that while the grants provided positive support for some people, there was similar support available through a range of other organisations. Our review highlighted that our process of application and award was overly complicated, and we weren't clear on the impact of the grants on people's lives. Consequently we set ourselves the task of assessing if:

1. We could create a simpler mechanism for application and award of the grant to recipients;
2. We could align the grant to the delivery of our No Life Half Lived strategy; and
3. We could create a process of award that enabled the charity to measure the impact of the grant for our beneficiaries, Board and donors.

At the conclusion of the review we proposed a new approach and focus for CHSS Personal Support Grants that we would implement in 2020 to meet the above ambition.

The new approach will incorporate:

1. Awards that will support people to keep physically and socially active.
2. Utilisation of our network of CHSS Rehab Support Coordinators to act as sponsors for applications.
3. Impact measurements through alignment with routine personal goal setting and review with out Rehab Support Services
4. Direct payment of awards to the recipients

The charity will make this transition to pilot the new approach in January 2020 and as a consequence will cease to accept grant applications in their current form as of the end of December 2019