A PILOT project launched last year to help some of the most vulnerable people in Inverclyde has secured vital funding.

Befriending service Community Connectors was set up by Your Voice to combat social isolation and loneliness.

They have helped hundreds of people with poor health to find support through activities and groups.

Since setting up last year they have offered assistance to local residents like Angie Way, who was left paralysed by a blood clot, and victim of crime Pearl McLaughlin, who was too scared to go out after her ordeal.

Inverclyde Community Health and Social Care Partnership have now confirmed they will continue funding the project until March next year.

Your Voice project manager Karen Haldane said: “Community Connectors has been hugely successful.

“It is something that is badly needed in Inverclyde and we are delighted to get funding extended to March.

“We now have to look at ways to sustain it in the long-term.”

The community connectors team – Julie Gillan, Sean MacFarlane, Amanda McEwan and Ashley Brown – work with many people in need.

The team direct them to the many social groups connected to Your Voice, offering friendship, peer support, exercise and tech skills.

People can contact the team directly while they also accept referrals from health and social care professionals and community organisations, as well as family, friends and neighbours.

Anyone wishing to get in touch with the community connectors team or Your Voice can contact them on 728628.