TRAFFORD Council has awarded thousands of pounds to social care charity The Fed to help keep vulnerable people safe and well this winter.

The grant of more than £4,000 was awarded to the The Fed from the council's Winter Resilience Funding Programme and will enable the charity to expand its existing services to support the elderly and vulnerable in the borough.

Trafford Council's programme supports various organisations in keeping vulnerable and particularly elderly people, safe, well and out of hospital easing winter pressures on statutory services.

Lucy Edwards, who drafted The Fed's bid, said: "With this invaluable boost to funding, we can help more vulnerable people by extending our existing service within Trafford.

"We will be able to increase the number of ‘coffee stop’ group socials that we run for people who are lonely and socially isolated and will be able to recruit additional volunteers onto our books to befriend and support people on a one-to-one basis.

"Crucially, this will help ensure that we monitor older people’s wellbeing and help them maintain their physical and mental health over the winter months.”