Flintshire social enterprise awarded £10,000 for new iPads and training to help its community stay connected during pandemic

Flintshire based RainbowBiz CIC has been awarded £10,000 by the Steve Morgan Foundation to help some of the most marginalised members of the community get connected.

The social enterprise have been reaching out to those people it supports in many different ways since March, due to the impact of the Covid crisis.

Initial weekly contact was made via telephone calls and text messages to some of the most vulnerable members of the community.

RainbowBiz had to quickly moved projects and social gatherings online via Zoom, where people have been encouraged to join in regular weekly quizzes and have a chance to catch up and socialise together.

There have also been several craft sessions, a fancy dress party to celebrate Halloween and even their annual Festive Celebration which had a surprise visit from Santa!

Despite changing the way they engage with users, the organisation has said many people were growing increasing isolated because they struggled to access online services and social gatherings.

This was often down to a lack of equipment, lack of technical knowledge or a combination of both.

RainbowBiz director and project facilitator Sarah Way approached the charity set up by founder of Deeside based Redrow Homes for help in getting more people online.

The Steve Morgan Foundation awarded Rainbow Bizz £10,000 to help them provide iPads, software and training for their members to access Zoom support sessions.

Sarah Way said: “The organisation aims to bring more people together online. We are delighted to now be rolling out our IT Project which loans our iPads to individuals who have been prioritised due to need, one-to-one training is being delivered within Covid-19 government guidelines by our DBS checked trainer.”

“The iPads have been be set up securely and with appropriate settings to ensure that individuals will stay safe online.”

“We hope that with this accessible equipment and one-to-one support many of our members will be able to access their group of friends via Zoom during the week and eventually they may want to join the larger group who already meet every Friday evening for the quiz.”

“All of the work RainbowBiz does involves bringing people together to socialise and work together in their local community.”

Steve Morgan, founder of the Steve Morgan Foundation, said: “Last year RainbowBiz CIC won the Best Entrepreneurial Social Enterprise Award at the Steve Morgan Foundation Awards for the work they do with the most marginalised members of the community.” 

“Many of these people are extremely isolated and rely on projects like RainbowBiz for social interaction and routine. That’s why we stepped in now so they can continue their good work when they’re needed the most.”