A CHARITABLE foundation has been reaching out across the community to offer people opportunities they may not otherwise have.

Shaw Lane Foundation - based at Shaw Lane Sports Club - offer a wide range of activities that could appeal to almost anyone.

The foundation isn’t focused on supporting any one specific group, and instead picks target demographics that it reaches out to as a way to ensure that no one in the borough is left behind.

Recently, their wildly successful adult learning disability disco has become a monthly occasion, moving from only ten attendees in its debut event to 40 at the second.

Community engagement manager, Fiona Hall, told the Chronicle: “My role is to plan activities for the community that will best help people.

“It’s not for profit, it’s purely about helping people get out and to help them with their mental and physical health.

“We’ve targeted people who most need help, and not just focused on existing members of the club.

“So we’re looking at older people who might be isolated, who are a bit more active and who want to get out and about.

“Or it could be families who want to go out more but may be low income - we’re giving local schools vouchers so that they can be handed out to these kinds of families who can then come in to our cafe and access discounted food.

“We’ve also got plans to do a night version of our learning disability disco, which is currently just a day time event.”

Other activities include adult learning disability employability projects, providing people with practical work experience they may not get elsewhere, or heritage projects such as the recent Holgate Heroes event where they restored and re-commemorated a board dedicated to the nearly 100 Holgate Grammar School pupils who died in World War Two.

The foundation continues to grow, with volunteers always looking at ways to enhance the foundation’s projects and provide help to more people.

They have now been put forward for the Love Where You Live award at this year’s Proud of Barnsley.

“Different projects obviously get different turnouts,” Fiona added.

“We get lots of single people who may be struggling with loneliness because their spouse died or they’re recently single coming for support at our community cafe.

“People with mental health issues come for help, or those with learning disabilities who may have no work skills.

“We’re giving people chances they wouldn’t otherwise have.”