Down to Earth project wins major award

A Quaker Social Action project has won a Third Sector Award

Quaker Social Action’s Down to Earth project has been named ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ at the 2015 Third Sector Awards.

Down to Earth is the first and only project in the UK to give immediate practical support to people on low incomes who are planning funerals. The Quaker Social Action (QSA) initiative won in a strongly contested category against much larger charities, such as Cancer Research UK, Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, and Sova, which works to keep people away from crime.

Award judge David Floyd, managing director of the community interest company Social Spider, described Down to Earth as ‘an unusual and unfashionable but necessary project’.

The three-strong team said that each person they see saves an average of £2,237 on basic funeral costs. They have already helped almost 1,000 people.

‘Friends have supported Down to Earth every step of the way and helped the project to flourish. A lot of hard work stands behind its success and we want to thank every supporter who has cheered us on,’ said QSA director Judith Moran.

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