Lottery bikes in £1.6 million for community groups

Area:

East Midlands

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

16 10 2012

The Big Lottery Fund is today awarding £1.6 million to eight community projects including a bike workshop in Nottingham for those inspired by Britain’s Olympic medal haul this year and vital support throughout the region for those living with long-term lung disease.

Today’s funding comes from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme providing grants from £10,000 to £500,000 for communities most in need to make a positive difference to people’s lives.

Receiving £204,106 is EVE Trades CIC for The Bike Club project which it runs in Nottingham working with some of the city’s most vulnerable people. Individuals who attend the Bike Club will learn the basics of bike maintenance using donated broken bikes. They will develop their skill base whilst build up their self-confidence. Once fixed, they get to keep the bike to cycle to the club plus other community activities whilst increasing their physical activity and improving their mental health.

Graham Landsell, Bike Club Volunteer and Ex-client said: “I’ve been off sick with depression for many years. I have sometimes thought of suicide and I have been detained in hospital as a result of my problems. I enjoy volunteering at the Bike Club and sharing my cycle maintenance skills with others, particularly when I’m aware that the others I am helping have mental health issues. I like the lack of pressure. If I don’t feel like coming I don’t have to, but I always feel better for coming. In particular, I’m aware that my skills are appreciated by staff and service users. It gives me a sense of purpose to my life.”

The club will be open five days per week for people to drop in and access the services and support as they wish, and for some, an individual support plan will be put in place to map and monitor their progress.

Emma Lucas, Funding Officer at EVE Trades CIC said: “The Bike Club changes people’s lives by supporting them to learn new practical and social skills and to re-connect with their communities. This informal and flexible learning provides a springboard into other learning, volunteering and employment opportunities and enables vulnerable people to progress  towards independence and inclusion.”

Over in Lincoln, disabled children and adults can discover a wide range of sports played at the London 2012 Paralympics including boccia, football and basketball plus tri-golf, new age curling, skittles and bowling.  Lincoln City FC Sport and Education Trust will use £332,972 to offer a programme of sports and health activities to more than 8,000 people from five years old through to octogenarians.

The programmes of sports will be rolled out to special education schools, adult care homes and mental health support centres. In addition, the football club will run two annual six week sports activities during the holidays plus football festivals, competitions and weekend get-togethers.

The British Lung Foundation (BLF) receives £153,824 to expand a project across the East Midlands that has already seen working in the West Midlands to form Breathe Easy support groups for people living with long-term lung disease. BLF will work with those most at risk to empower them with the knowledge, confidence and skills to help them improve their longer term health outcomes through better self management and mutual peer support.

At least 250 people will be supported through new and existing groups in Lincolnshire (Louth and Skegness), Nottinghamshire (Sherwood and Ollerton) and Leicester. The Breathe Easy project will be suitable for people with emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer. Many people who suffer from these conditions have a fear of sudden breathlessness leaving many isolated in their own homes.

Jeremy Bacon, Midlands Support and Development Manager for the British Lung Foundation said: “The British Lung Foundation’s Breathe Easy network provides vital support and advice for people who are affected by lung disease. This very generous grant from the Big Lottery Fund will be a huge help in further developing the network in the Midlands, ensuring that people with respiratory disease feel more informed and less isolated.”

Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region East Midlands said: “Over £1.6 million awarded today from the Big Lottery Fund will reach out so many who have been inspired by Team GB and Paralympics GB to either get on a bike or participate in new sports which will help their physical and mental health. Projects interested in finding out more about how Lottery funding could make a difference to their community can find out more at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.”

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888

Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf

Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to Editors

• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since June 2004 BIG has awarded over £4.4bn.
• The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £28 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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