You can use our Funding Finder to search for funding programmes that are available for your constituents, while our grants search will allow you to find projects that have been funded in your constituency.
We have also supported a further 41 Second World War veterans to take commemorative visits all across the globe where they saw service in WWII; places visited include Burma, Egypt, Malta, Crete and Singapore.
Our Reaching Communities programme has proved popular in this region, with 75 projects sharing £20.4 million including Barnsley Beacon Support Services, who will use its funding to expand the ‘Stepping Stones’ project which supports carers of substance users. The project was set up after founder June Marshall discovered three of her children were using heroin and found there was little support in the area for families of subtance users.
We also awarded 30 grant holders in the region an extra year’s worth of funding to allow them to continue their work through our Supporting Change and Impact programme. A further 64 funded projects received up to £10,000 each to help them review their work and find ways of becoming more sustainable.
BIG’s team in Yorkshire and the Humber
We have recently had a few changes to staffing in the team. Christine Cooper has returned from maternity leave as Policy and Learning Manager and we have a new team member, Debbie Yates, who joins us as Communications Officer.
The team have been out and about getting in the mood for the Olympic Games! Alison and Debbie joined the Wakefield and District Fibromyalgia Support Group for their Fibro Games event in May and joined group members in a rowing (machine) challenge and a cycling challenge.
Fibromyalgia causes widespread chronic pain for the sufferer and can manifest itself with other symptoms such as memory loss, lack of concentration and sleeping disorders. The support group received £9,850 to raise awareness of the condition with events such as the Fibro Games. The games have also been recognised by the London 2012 Inspire programme and they have received the Inspire Mark.
Sticking with the Olympics theme, we also joined Doncaster Book Awards Ltd (DBA) at the ‘Lit’s a Knockout’ event at the Doncaster Athletics Stadium. 20 schools from across Doncaster came together to take part in races with themes from the books nominated by children of Doncaster this year. Races included ‘Racing the Dead’ which saw zombies dragging themselves along the track – the inspiration from Charlie Higson’s zombie series of books for children.
DBA received £9,975 to run a programme of literacy workshops, events and trips with an Olympic theme for school age children, with a particular focus targetted at boys in disadvantaged areas of the city, encouraging them to use libraries and to develop their reading and literacy.
See a video about the Doncaster Book Awards
If you would be interested in visiting Big Lottery funded project in your constituency, please email alison.crawley@biglotteryfund.org.uk. Or if you have visited a Big Lottery funded project, let us know and we can tweet about it on our Twitter page @BIGYH.
Bingley Youth Cafe, Bradford
Thanks to a Reaching Communities grant of £499,903, Shipley and Bingley Voluntary Services were able to set up the Bingley Youth Cafe. The cafe offers a safe, warm and welcoming environment for young people to socialise, access practical advice on issues that affect them such as sexual health, confidence building, careers and training and to join in activities such as arts and crafts, graffiti art and cook and eat sessions.
Paula Stone, Youth Cafe Development Worker says: “The cafe provides a place of safety for young people and allows them to get involved with positive activities. Everyone is valued and they can just come and be themselves”.
Even in the first few weeks of the cafe being open, young people have expressed that the project has made a difference to thier lives. Paula said “One boy, in particular, has said that the cafe has helped him stay away from more negative activity such as drug taking and misuse of alcohol – he has also been able to get advice on such issues from the advisers based here.”
One young person said, “I love coming to the Bingley Youth Cafe because it is warm, comfortable and safe – the staff are really friendly here and good people to talk to!’
Kulwant Kaur, Bradford Youth Service said, “The cafe has made a big difference because it has given young people a space that they can call their own. The can come here, chill out and have fun with their friends and they can get involved in activities taking place, whether they are fun or educational”.
Have a listen to the Bingley Youth Cafe podcast: http://soundcloud.com/biglotteryfund/bingley-youth-cafe
How can we help you?
We can arrange constituency tours of projects we have funded and we encourage groups to invite their local MP to project openings. We can provide case studies from constituencies and leaflets or information for surgeries and your website. Where possible, we can organise or attend funding events in local areas and provide constituents with funding information. We will also send you a monthly mail out showing projects funded in your constituency.
Further information
Contact: Paul Jones, Head of Yorkshire and the Humber Region
Telephone: 0113 290 2902
Email: paul.jones@biglotteryfund.org.uk