NIck Venti from PAVO tells us more about the fund and how it will work to support people in their local community.#

In responding to requests for assistance, the local Covid 19 volunteers covering Llanidloes and District were both being pressed to receive donations from people who were thankful for the help they receive, and encountering cases where people are unable to pay upfront for goods, due either to lack of credit / debit cards or internet banking, or indeed lack of means whilst waiting for furlough and self-employment support arrangements to be finalised. As simply a collective of individuals with no access to a bank account, this begged the question of how the volunteers could both handle money safely and ensure that those struggling financially under the present lock down could be assisted. The solution has been to set up the Llanidloes Mutual Aid Fund with the support of a 'fiscal host' - in this instance the Social Change Agency. The 'fiscal host' provides a bank account and an online platform that is a cross between a crowdfunding site and an online accounting system. Contributors to the fund become part of a collective that is kept informed of all developments in the support offered by the fund, and which can see all money received and the nature of all payments made with the money raised. 

The first donations into the Llani Covid 19 Mutual Aid Fund have been the £936 raised through the Good Friday Fish and Chip event, whilst the local football club have also donated £250 and local business PCQ Solutions, which has already helped the group with technically support, has now also sponsored the group with £100 a month. 

"We are incredibly grateful to all those, now and in the future, who will contribute to the fund and help us to support the most vulnerable in our community. We are really pulling together in Llani and District and it is wonderful how people have contributed time and money to support each other in this crisis."

If you would like to contribute to the Llani Covid 19 Mutual Aid Fund, please visit: https://opencollective.com/llani-covid-19-mutual-aid-fund