Hundreds of people in hardship to benefit from £450,000 lottery grant

The Platform project aims to provide specialist support to 370 people across Sandwell and Dudley who have been identified as having 'complex and multiple' needs.

The project, which is part-funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, has been set up by the Just Straight Talk organisation.

Project manager Kate Beale said the project would be looking to help people with long-term physical or mental health problems, who are living in poverty, struggling with debt, or experiencing homelessness or insecure housing.

Those leaving local-authority care or having experienced domestic abuse will also be likely to benefit, as well as ex-offenders and those with addiction problems.

Mrs Beale said the project would involve events and group sessions in neighbourhoods identified as having high levels of deprivation, including Brierley Hill, Coseley, Friar Park in Wednesbury, Kates Hill and Buffery Park in Dudley, and Ocker Hill in Tipton.

Activities will include coffee mornings, advice about dealing with the cost-of-living advice, anxiety and worry, as well as creative writing, crafts and relaxation sessions.

"We will continue to respond to emerging needs and ideas from our communities," she said.

Mrs Beale founded Just Straight Talk in 2012 with the help of a £500 grant. Since then the group has helped nearly 4,000 people get their lives back on track, and is estimated to have saved the taxpayer nearly £9 million.

This includes £3.5 million saved by finding permanent accommodation for the homeless, and £2.6 million by helping the unemployed back into work.

Last year Mrs Beale was awarded the British Empire Medal for her work.

"The project will provide short-term, targeted one-to-one support, leading into group activities," she said.

"We will also improve feelings of wellbeing, through connecting individuals to support people to better manage their long-term health conditions."