Lottery helps put youth back on track in Lincolnshire

Area:

East Midlands

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

30 1 2007

In Gainsborough, Rainer Lincolnshire has been awarded £145,375 for its Gainsborough Life Skills and Support for Drug Users Project. The three-year project will help provide support services to rehabilitate young people who are involved in anti-social behaviour and drugs.

Rainer will provide services that manage and address health and personal issues such as low self-esteem, and help develop life skills to get the young people’s lives back on track. The project will also work with parents and carers to help them understand and cope with the problems these young people face.

Paul Taylor, Executive Service Manager for Rainer Lincolnshire, said: “This funding will allow Rainer to provide a crucial service for young people in Gainsborough who are struggling to overcome a drug addiction.

“By building their self esteem and life skills, as well as facilitating access to specialist drug treatment and health services, the project will help create stability in the lives of young people. It will give them the support they need to break out of the remorseless cycle of addiction, homelessness and social exclusion.

“The project will also bring benefits to the wider community by reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.”

For the people of Skillington, a £50,000 grant means the 10-year wait for a new community centre is almost over. The money will be used to help build a new youth and community centre, replacing the previous village hall, which closed a decade ago.

The new centre will host a wide range of events and activities aimed at the whole community, with a particular focus on young and elderly residents. Activities will include indoor bowls, yoga, table tennis and badminton, as well as recreational events such as bingo, mums and toddlers play groups and quiz nights. Changing rooms will also be attached to the building to allow outdoor sports to be played on the adjacent playing field.

Rachel Stewardson, Secretary of Skillington Community Centre Committee, said: “Skillington has been without a hall for the last 10 years during which time the demography of the village has changed drastically, now encompassing a wider age spectrum with many more young children and also of course our elderly.

“By building this centre, Skillington will finally have met the social needs of our growing community. We are very excited about having such activities as a lunch club for the elderly, a playgroup for the mums and toddlers, fitness sessions for the over 60's and private parties to name but a few.”

Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East Midlands, said: “These awards in Lincolnshire show the diversity of excellent causes we are able to help through our Reaching Communities funding programme. Whether it’s a project that’s helping young people get their lives back on track or providing a vital community facility, these awards are improving communities and enhancing the lives of the people that live in them.”

The grants awarded in Lincolnshire are just two of the four Reaching Communities awards announced today in the East Midlands, totalling almost £1.2 million. Other Reaching Communities awards in the region will help keep people healthy in Kettering and provide day services for homeless people in Bassetlaw.

Focusing on older people, young parents and children, Kettering Borough Council will use a £498,793 award for a wide range of services and activities to keep local people healthy through its Keep Healthy @ Kettering project. The scheme provides a range of individual projects to help tackle the obstacles that prevent people from leading a healthier lifestyle.

Finally, a £488,123 grant will help Worksop based charity, HOPE, provide an extended day service for homeless people in Bassetlaw. The five-year funding will focus on providing sessions on social responsibility, emotions, anger management and mentoring. This project will also provide counselling, information and guidance regarding housing, employment, education, and drug and alcohol problems.

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
• On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.
• Reaching Communities is part of the Big Lottery Fund’s portfolio of new programmes. Following an intense and comprehensive process of consultation with stakeholders and the general public over the last year, the Fund has undertaken to distribute 60-70% of its funding to the third sector.  At least one-third of BIG funding will be demand-led and lightly prescribed.  In England, this will amount to at least £600 million over the period 2005-2009. This commitment will be met from a variety of funding streams, including, Reaching Communities, Awards for All, part of the Young People’s Fund, Community Buildings, Advice Services and the People’s Millions.
• UK-wide, the Big Lottery Fund will distribute through its new programmes and allocations funding worth over £2.6bn between now and April 2009. Regularly updated information on the Big Lottery Fund’s new programmes is available at : www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/publications.htm

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