We are pleased to announce we have become a patron of Shaping Portsmouth, a fantastic organisation that is passionate about making the city a great place to live and work.
Stef Nienaltowski, Shaping Portsmouth’s CEO, said:
“On behalf of the Shaping Portsmouth organisation I am delighted that Abri Group and ourselves have joined this significant partnership for the benefit of our city and some of its most disadvantaged citizens. The synergy between our two organisations is exciting as we want to make Portsmouth a place of employment opportunity and where people’s wellbeing is paramount.
“In addition to this the way in which we wish to engage with the Community to empower them in ways not thought possible before, plays right into the centre of Abri's beliefs and objectives. The standards Abri set and achieve are in common with our own world class goals and the immediate working relationship we have built is so encouraging and exciting for our future partnership.
“Portsmouth is going to be a city with a strong and exciting future and the Abri / Shaping partnership will play its full part and be a significant benefit to those that use the programmes and services we jointly create and deliver.”
In June we announced our large-scale investment in eight areas across the south and south west of England. Portsmouth will benefit from this, and we will work with local service providers and partners to increase opportunity in the city. Michelle Dawson, our Managing Director of Community Services, said:
“By partnering with Shaping Portsmouth, we can give people living in the city better access to employment opportunities and health and wellbeing initiatives. We also want to empower the local community to make the changes they hope to see in their area.
“Organisations such as Shaping Portsmouth are essential in helping communities to thrive, and we are proud to become a patron and work collaboratively with them. We want to learn from the community and will make sure we are listening to peoples voices to really understand how we can help shape the city and support it to thrive.
“Portsmouth is a fantastic city that is diverse by nature; we want to celebrate this. Creating equal opportunity is high on our agenda and we look forward to working closely with Shaping Portsmouth to find ways to give everyone living in the city access to great opportunities.”
Portsmouth will benefit from direct investment across the next five years which will go towards giving the local community great life-chances. From skills workshops to health initiatives, we hope to support they city as they recover from the impact of COVID-19.