- Area:
- East of England
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 11 9 2012
A Norfolk mentoring project for people with learning disabilities and complex needs has received over £420,000 from the Big Lottery Fund to help secure its future for the next three years.
The grant to CSV is one of seven being given to projects in the East of England today sharing in £2,030,230 from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme which aims to help people most in need and build stronger communities.
CSV has run a volunteer project for people with learning disabilities in Norfolk for over 22 years. Today’s grant will expand their service into new parts of the county, offering a programme of training, volunteering and supported employment using community mentors.
Called the Vocal Project, participants work with community volunteers who help them to access training and social events. As their confidence around people and skills develop, they will then gradually move into volunteering placements either in a group or an individual setting.
Jemma Mindham, Area Manager at CSV, said: “CSV is delighted to be granted this award as it will provide much needed stability for the project and its beneficiaries in a time of uncertainty and transition in the social care sector. It gives the Vocal Project the security to continue to deliver personalised support to adults with learning disabilities in order to volunteer and access community social opportunities, and provides the opportunity to expand this offering to include supported employment in partnership with other agencies locally.
“The Vocal Project will also now be able to offer this in more areas of Norfolk and to a more diverse range of individuals who would otherwise struggle to become valued members of their communities.”
Elsewhere in the region Carers in Bedfordshire receives £276,069 to expand on their support services for carers. The grant will improve accommodation, facilities and staffing so that the group can help more carers of all ages in the county. The group currently runs services such as a telephone helpline, social events, training programmes, and specialty support for young carers.
Two other projects in Bedfordshire are also getting grants. A new project by ACCM (UK) in Bedford is awarded £236,047 to help families from migrant and other communities to make new friends outside of their own communities and access services such as health, welbeing and leisure services. It will also tackle issues around hidden violence, parenting skills and academic achievements.
Meanwhile, Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seekers Support receives £75,974 to provide a range of services including practical information, advice and guidance to refugee and asylum seekers to help them understand the issues associated with settling into a new community and the language and cultural barriers
In Norfolk, the village of Thornham will build a brand new village hall thanks to their grant of £475,910. Thornham Village Hall and Playing Field receives the grant to replace their existing outdated drill hall which was built in 1906. The new facility will be built next to the existing multi-use games and children’s play area, and when complete will run a range of activities and events for the local community to take part in.
Also receiving a grant today is Resolve in Welwyn Garden City which will use £255,905 to work with people to equip them with the tools and the confidence to help them deal with problems connected with addiction, helping them to return to a healthy, manageable and positive lifestyle. The range of activities include psycho-social interventions through group sessions including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Relapse Prevention, Life Skills, Recovery Strategies and Health Education as well as one to one counselling sessions with a Personal Treatment Path.
And finally, Suffolk County Council receives £290,106 to expand on their programme of support, mentoring and ESOL learning opportunities for minotiry ethnic communities in Suffolk. The project will work with 200 adults and 300 children and young people in settled communities across Suffolk, but particularly in Ipswich, Brandon and Newmarket
Sara Betsworth, Big Lottery Fund’s Head of the East of England region, said: “This month we are investing over £2 million from the Reaching Communities programme into good causes across the East of England to bring about a range of benefits to some of the region’s most in need. Our Reaching Communities programme is always open for applications from organisations and anyone wanting to find out how to apply can visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_reaching_communities.”
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
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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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