Health grants for organisations

Organisation: 

The Manna 

Cloudesley grants: 

2023: £105,000 (£35k per year for three years) 

2021: £60,000 (£30k per year for two years – extension funding) 

2019: £90,000 (£30k per year for three years) 

About the Organisation: 

The Manna is a day centre that supports marginalised, vulnerable and homeless people in the local Islington community. They operate out of the church hall at St Stephen’s Canonbury and provide their clients with a wide range of service including food, laundry, showers & key work advice. 

Project Funded 

Cloudesley funding contributes to the one-to-one support service provided by an Advice and Advocacy Worker, offering advice and advocacy on housing, benefits and other issues clients face. It focuses on the most marginalised people and those unlikely to find support elsewhere. The grant also covers part-costs of activity groups, including gardening, poetry, art, and walking, this being broader work to address health inequalities. 

Impact of Project: 

In 2024, The Manna helped 250 people to overcome barriers to healthcare, secure housing, and to improve financial stability. People experiencing homelessness face severe health inequalities, including higher mortality and barriers to accessing care. The Manna works to reduce these barriers through advocacy, monthly health hub sessions, and wellbeing activities, enabling individuals to take steps toward better health. Clients often face multiple disadvantages, poor mental health, substance misuse, and digital exclusion, making timely, appropriate care difficult. The project aims to improve health, housing stability, and financial security so people can manage their lives more independently.  

What the group says 

As a daycentre for homeless and marginalised people the risk is that all our effort goes into our practical offerings such as showers, laundry, food, clothing, storage, mailing address, etc.  But this Cloudesley grant has enabled us to position the daycentre services as the gateway into something even more helpful to our clients: support to tackle some of the problems that bring people to this point and to move beyond the immediate crisis. 

The Cloudesley perspective – why did this project gain support? 

People experiencing homelessness are more likely to have physical and mental health issues than the general population. They are also more likely to experience barriers to accessing support with their health, which is compounded by the severe and multiple disadvantage that many face. The Manna’s inclusive, open-door approach helps them reach people that may struggle to access other services, supporting them with the issues they face and helping them to re-engage with other services.