Concord Connections CIC

23/09/2026

🌿 What a fantastic day we had on Sunday, 20 September!🌟🔥💥💪🌟⭐👋🧡

Concord Connections CIC welcomed a wonderful group of women to our Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds event in Ribchester, supported by The National Lottery and Sport England.

We enjoyed walking, gentle movement, swimming, friendship, laughter and time together in beautiful surroundings. The turnout was fantastic, and it was lovely to see everyone joining in and encouraging one another.

A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful partners, Hidden Oaks in Ribchester, for the use of their beautiful private pool and Stable venue, and Silver Spoon Fine Catering for helping us make the day so special.

Thank you to every woman who took part and brought such warmth and positive energy to the event. 💜

13/09/2026

🎉 WE DID IT—45 DAYS EARLY!🧡👋✨💪💪🌟💫👀⭐

We reached out—and our community responded.

With 45 days still remaining before our Crowdfunder deadline of 31 October, we are absolutely delighted to announce that our Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds campaign has already reached its target.

Every donation, pledge, share and encouraging message helped make this possible. This achievement is not simply about reaching a financial target—it demonstrates what can happen when people believe in an idea and come together to support it.

Our Sport England-supported project may appear a little different from our usual financial, business and digital inclusion work. However, meaningful community engagement cannot happen only from behind an office desk.

To understand people, build trust and remain genuinely connected, we need to offer varied opportunities that bring people together. Sometimes that means helping somebody understand a household bill or use an online service. At other times, it means walking together, trying a gentle activity, sharing a conversation and helping someone feel less isolated.

Financial confidence, digital inclusion, physical wellbeing and human connection are not separate from one another. They are all part of helping people feel stronger, more confident and better connected to their communities.

This project allows Concord Connections CIC to be where we believe a community organisation should be: in the middle of the community, listening, participating and growing alongside the people we serve.

Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who supported the campaign and to Sport England and the National Lottery for helping us turn this idea into reality.

You helped us reach our target. Now we look forward to putting that support into action. 💛

Helping a minimum of twenty East Lancashire ladies build confidence, friendships and healthier habits through gentle, supported movement.

13/09/2026

🎉✨🌟💫💫💫💖 Another important milestone for Concord Connections CIC

On 28 July 2026, we received the wonderful news that Concord Connections CIC had been awarded funding supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

The funding will help us continue developing practical, accessible support around financial confidence, digital inclusion and the everyday challenges created by the cost-of-living crisis.

Our funded work began on 1 September 2026.

For a small Community Interest Company, this support makes an enormous difference. It gives us the opportunity to build on our previous information, advice and guidance work and reach more people who may need patient, practical and non-judgemental help.

We are incredibly grateful to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery for making this possible.

13/09/2026

💜 Funding awarded—and our program is now underway!🫰🫰🫰💻🖱🖱🖱💌💌💌

On 8 July 2026, Concord Connections CIC was delighted to learn that we had been awarded a £3,000 grant from the Marsden Building Society Charitable Foundation.

The funding supports our Smart with Money and Online program for people aged 50 and over, which began on 1 August 2026.

Through friendly, jargon-free, small-group sessions, participants receive patient and practical help with everyday money matters and using online services confidently. This includes:

💷 Understanding household bills, payslips, tax and official letters
💻 Using GOV.UK and other online services
🔐 Passwords, online security and scam awareness
🔎 Comparing prices and finding trusted deals online
❓ Asking questions in a welcoming and supportive environment

We are extremely grateful to the Marsden Building Society Charitable Foundation and the Community
Foundation for Lancashire for believing in our work and helping us provide practical financial and digital support within our community.

If you, a family member or somebody you support could benefit from this programme, please contact Concord Connections CIC.

📍 Lancashire
📞 07866 961247

13/09/2026

🚶‍♀️ Sport England Movement Fund support 🏃‍♀🛟💗🎯

On 6 July 2026, Concord Connections CIC received a conditional £1,500 pledge from Sport England’s Movement Fund towards our Crowdfunder campaign for “CF – Gentle Movement”.

The project is an eight-week gentle movement and wellbeing pilot for inactive women in East Lancashire. Activities include supported walking, line dancing and swimming, with an emphasis on confidence, wellbeing and friendly social connection.

The Sport England pledge was conditional on us raising matching support from the community—and we are delighted to say that our Crowdfunder campaign has reached its target!

A heartfelt thank you to Sport England and to every person who supported, shared or contributed to our campaign. Your support has helped turn this project into a reality.

13/09/2026

🛡️ Funding awarded for community safety📑👏👋💻👩‍💻🚔

Looking back at another important milestone: on 24 June 2026, Concord Connections CIC learned that we had been awarded funding through the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner’s Community Fund.

The funding supports:

“Safe Online, Safe Community: Fraud, Scam and Cyber Safety Awareness”

The programme runs from 1 August 2026 to 31 January 2027 and will help local people recognise scams, protect their personal and financial information, and use online services more safely and confidently.

We are very grateful for this support and for the opportunity to deliver practical fraud, scam and cyber-safety education within our communities.

13/09/2026

💻 Supporting digital inclusion

On 12 June 2026, Concord Connections CIC joined the Good Things Foundation’s National Digital Inclusion Network.

We particularly appreciate the Learn My Way programme, which provides accessible learning resources to help people build essential digital skills.

Its approach is becoming increasingly inspirational to us as we develop our own financial and digital inclusion work—helping people feel more confident using online services safely and independently.

We are delighted to be part of a national network working to ensure that nobody is left behind in an increasingly digital world.

13/09/2026

🌱 A milestone from June 2026 👏📑👋🤝🤝🤝🤝

On 9 June 2026, Concord Connections CIC became a member of NCVO.

Our membership will support us as we continue strengthening our governance, developing our organisation and learning from good practice across the voluntary and community sector.

As a small and growing Community Interest Company, being connected to trusted national networks is an important part of building strong foundations for the future.

08/06/2026

Practical support for everyday money worries 💙📱☕

During May, Concord Connections CIC has expanded its reach by delivering more direct support to local people, alongside our ongoing work with charities and CICs. We have been proud to offer practical, no-nonsense help with everyday money, work and digital issues that can have a real impact on people’s lives.

This has included helping people with:

📌 understanding tax codes
📌 setting up and using a GOV.UK account
📌 reading payslips more clearly
📌 understanding holiday entitlement
📌 making sense of multiple jobs or different income sources
📌 knowing what questions to ask when something does not look right

One thing we see often in the community, but which people do not always talk about, is how isolating money worries and financial confusion can feel.

People may be working hard, juggling responsibilities, managing different income sources, or trying to deal with online systems — yet still feel unsure, overwhelmed, or left to figure things out alone 💻📱🧾

Having someone who listens, cuts through the jargon, and explains things in a clear and practical way can make a real difference 🤝☕✨

At Concord Connections CIC, this is the kind of support we care deeply about: practical, friendly, easy to understand, and rooted in real life.

We hope to do much more of this work in the future, because it is a much-needed community service — and the buzz we get from helping people feel clearer, calmer and more informed is unbelievable 💛🌍

08/06/2026

Financial clarity in practice 💙📊✨

Earlier this year, we shared our plans to support small charities and CICs with stronger financial foundations 🧱🌱

During May, we have been delivering this work in practice — helping community organisations make sense of their finances, understand what needs to be done, and put clearer routines in place 🧾📂✅

What we are seeing is very real: many small organisations are doing amazing work in their communities ❤️🤝🌍, but the financial side can become uncertain, complicated, or too dependent on one key person holding all the knowledge 🧠🔐

When things change, this can leave organisations unsure about where records are, what has been done, what still needs doing, and how to move forward 🧭📌

That is where practical, hands-on support makes a difference 🤲💡

At Concord Connections CIC, we help charities and CICs bring more clarity, structure and confidence to their financial processes — not through generic training, but through real-life support that meets organisations where they are 📊🛠️🤝

Because strong community work needs strong foundations behind the scenes 🧱🌱💛