Community Service Program (CSP)
Our Community Service Program (CSP) is our charity division. It helps us bridge the gap! Our CSP currently offers the following initiatives:
- The Community Access Initiative
- Our Community Food Pantry
- Material Aid & Community Engagement
- Community Groups and Initiatives
Community Access Initiative
Our Community Access Initiative aims to bridge the gap in access by providing alternative funding options for therapy and assessments. It includes our:
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A reduced fee service through intern service
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Low cost services under our student clinic
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Community Funded Places to access subsidised psychological therapy and assessments
We raise funds through donations and fundraising activities to enable us to offer opportunities for people who have access limitations to psychological therapy or assessments. This may be due to financial hardship or exceptional circumstances that, without access support, would restrict their ability to attend therapy or have a psychological assessment.
Food Pantry
The UMCS Community Food Pantry is run by a small team of volunteers and our CSP Coordinator, Tracey Russell. We receive regular donations of items such as non-perishable items, fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, milk and meat. Availability of items is dependant on donations and will vary from time to time.
Material Aid &Community Engagement
Our CSP co-ordinator often receives requests for material aid and support with community engagement. Some of the request we get include:
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Food hampers
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Clothing
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Help accessing grants and funding and hardship support
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Information and referrals for housing and other support services
Community Based Programs & Initiatives
Often, through our everyday work, we identify problems at a community level. When this happens, our team get together to plan and design a suitable group or initiative. Depending on the type of group or initiative, we may be able to offer this as a bulk billed group to the community, or we seek funding to help reduce the cost for the community. If we need funding, our CSP coordinator, Tracey, gets to work to secure a grant. A recent example is our neurodiverse social group which aimed to connect young neurodiverse members in the community to enhance social connection.
