Saltbox has been making a difference to the lives of people across Stoke-on-Trent for more than four decades.

At any one time the charity supports more than 450 people who may be facing life-changing circumstances.

Saltbox provides three caring services – Restart, CareLink and Money Matters.

Restart provides housing support for people who are leaving prison and currently supports more than 120 people who are homeless or in danger of homelessness. Many of Restart’s clients struggle with mental health, drug and alcohol challenges.

The national re-offending rate for prolific offenders is more than 60%. Restart’s re-offending rate is 6%.

CareLink is a befriending service which provides telephone support for more than 300 elderly people. 40 volunteers make 12,000 phone calls every year, including on Christmas Day.

Many of CareLink’s clients are aged over 75, live alone and do not have family to give them support or advice. CareLink has also developed a reablement service which visits people in their own homes after they have experienced some life challenging circumstance and hand-holds clients through several weeks of rehabilitation.

Money Matters is a debt and benefits advice service that supports all of Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank’s 16 distribution venues in the city. In the last 12 months Money Matters helped clients write off more than £150,000 of debt and also to successfully claim more than £600,000 in benefits they were entitled to.

Lloyd Cooke, Chief Executive of Saltbox, has entered Saltbox into the Business in the Community category of the Staffordshire University Business Awards.

He said: “I’m entering the business awards as a tribute to Saltbox’s staff and the work that they do. The charity couldn’t work with so many people within the community without their continued hard work and dedication.”