00:00Crunching the numbers, trying to find what little money he can.
00:05Barry Andrews is the operations manager for community interest company Who Cares,
00:11which supports more than 500 vulnerable people across the peninsula.
00:16But those vital services are now on the verge of collapse
00:20after Medway Council unexpectedly pulled funding last year.
00:25We're getting people referred to us at a rate of over 120 a year.
00:31So if that was to increase and we suddenly find 600 people, 700 people, 800 people
00:36over the next few years needing this support,
00:40it's disappointing that we're going to struggle to be able to meet that through the funding gap.
00:46The organisation needs £35,000 to keep it afloat and stave off job losses
00:53while it finishes setting up a commercial sister company
00:57to make the whole operation sustainable.
01:01But those relying on services at the moment are anxious.
01:05Been lost with that.
01:06Oh yeah, absolutely.
01:08We're thinking about trying to raise a bit of money for them.
01:12To raise the money for them.
01:13Jeanette Sancto has been supported by Who Cares
01:16while looking after someone with dementia.
01:19You can go down and sit there and talk to people.
01:22She says services here are a lifeline.
01:26And I felt like a ton of weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
01:30I was just in tears when I came away from there
01:33because I really felt as though I had the backup.
01:37And I've had backup of Who Cares ever since.
01:40They've been absolutely brilliant.
01:42And so have loads of other people had the backup as well.
01:46It's not just, you know, and it's not just elderly people.
01:50It's disabled people, people with learning difficulties
01:53and things like that.
01:55They all need this backup.
01:57We can't lose Who Cares.
01:59We can't lose them.
02:01Medway Council says it has supported Who Cares since 2016.
02:06But the goal was always for the organisation to be self-sufficient.
02:10However, the local authority says it is not sustainable
02:14to indefinitely make payments.
02:17And it's not in line with how they work
02:20with other voluntary organisations.
02:22But with no guaranteed funding solution in sight,
02:27there's no doubt staff here are at risk of redundancy.
02:32And those cuts will be felt by those most in need.
02:36Oli Leader in Who.
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