A project to help unemployed people in Glastonbury make positive changes in their lives has been so sucessful that it has been extended.

The Engage Somerset wellbeing project delivered by Pluss, that was announced in January as a six-month programme, has been extended by a further three months. The contract will now formally end at the end of September 2022.

Engage Somerset is available to residents who are not in employment and live in one of three Somerset towns: Glastonbury, Highbridge or Chard. The scheme is funded by the UK Government's Community Renewal Fund (CRF) and is administered by Somerset County Council.

To date the project has supported over 250 people from across the three towns. It aims to inspire healthy change, through a range of activities such as group walks, art groups and healthy eating sessions, along with bespoke individual one-to-one coaching sessions that seek to tackle any barriers that are holding participants back from moving forward with their lives.

Lisa Pearce, Engage Somerset Project Manager said: "I'm really pleased that we have been given an additional three months to support more people across the three towns in Somerset. We had to hit the ground running, though it has taken time to really get up to full speed. This extra time will ensure we finish the programme strongly and put in place measures so that participants can be signposted to existing support, once Engage Somerset reaches its conclusion."

The Engage Somerset project featured in a celebration broadcast, through community television broadcaster, Chaos TV recently (June 29). The programme featured several interviews with the community coaches and participants from all three towns. This programme can be watched at: https://youtu.be/nUIi-UEvp-s.

This project is grateful for the support from Somerset County Council and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

For more information and how to get involved, email [email protected].