- Area:
- London
- Programme:
- Supporting Change and Impact
- Release date:
- 20 3 2012
Charities across London, including a mental health project based in Camden and advice services in South West London, who are struggling with the effects of public funding cuts and increased demand for their services have been given a National Lottery lifeline today.
Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has awarded 37 of its grant-holders in London an extra year’s worth of funding to enable them to continue their work through the tough economic environment. Grants of up to £10,000 have also been awarded to a further 97 projects to help them review their work and find ways of becoming more sustainable.
Projects sharing in the funding - totalling over £4.7 million - provide vital services to some of the most vulnerable groups in London. Many face an uncertain future as their Lottery funding comes to an end, compounded by increasing demand from beneficiaries as other services are forced to scale back or close down, and welfare reforms begin to take effect.
The South West London Law Centre will use its extra funding of £90,016 to increase its capacity by 50% to provide free legal advice to those most in need in six London boroughs as well as providing work and life experience for volunteers. The Centre is currently managing cuts of up to 30% of its income at the same time as bearing an increase in demand for its services as more people are being left without the financial means to pay for legal advice. Recent advice has included for tenants facing eviction or having deposits withheld or pregnant women with unfair dismissal cases or advice and support for those dealing with debt problems.
The Law Centre is expecting to be financially affected by ten per cent cut in legal aid and further changes proposed in the Legal Aid Punishment and Sentencing of Offenders bill that is going through Parliament which will further cut legal aid.
The Centre’s pro bono advice programme consists of twelve evening and four day advice clinics staffed by volunteer lawyers. The clinics are intended to provide one off advice and advisors will help diagnose the client’s legal needs and advise on the appropriate next steps.
Peter Marples, Interim Chief Executive, The South West London Law Centre said: “We are delighted to have been offered this funding. It has enabled us to keep our full volunteering programme in operation which includes a significant pro bono advice programme which helps nearly 5,000 extra clients a year. The service helps relieve the stress caused by legal problems and empower clients to resolve their problems themselves. The funding will also help us to reorganise our services so we better cope with the ongoing funding changes affecting advice services.”
MIND in Camden receives £38,938 to provide essential support for people in prisons who suffer from psychosis and create a network of self help groups for those that hear voices, see visions or have other unusual perceptions. MIND will work with Belmarsh, Brixton, Feltham, Holloway, Latchmere House, Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs prisons.
Prisoners who suffer from mental health issues will be given support and skills to help them take control of their experiences and to learn ways of understanding and coping with them, reducing the distress, fear and stigma they experience as a result. At the same time, prison officers, healthcare and substance misuse staff will receive training on how to respond to affected prisoners. One of whom said, “I have more insight into hearing voices and how to support such people or help them deal with their individual situation.”
Brian Dawn, MIND in Camden Director explains: “The money from Big Lottery Fund means we can develop peer support groups for voice hearers in London’s prisons, where 70% are diagnosed with two or more mental health problems and 25% of suicides are by those who hear voices.
Brian continued, “In this time of cuts to funding for social care, it is increasingly important that organisations find ways of working together to find innovative new ways to support people with mental health issues to recover, MIND in Camden is making an important contribution to this.”
People who have already received support through MIND’s work in London’s prisons have said:
“Before coming to the group, I felt like a freak. Now I know I’m not the only one who hears voices. It’s no big deal.”
“I now know there are ways of dealing with this, I didn’t know that before. Getting ideas from other members helps.”
“When I come here it’s a break, I leave the voices in my cell. They don’t bother me here. Friday afternoon’s are what gets me through the week.”
And a self-harmer commented, “Now when the voice tells me to cut up, I know I’m angry. I think of my son and it helps me stay strong.”
The funding is part of a Big Lottery Fund initiative called Supporting Change & Impact, which totals over £70m and is designed to help Lottery-funded good causes cope with the developing impact of public funding cuts. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) estimates that voluntary and community groups will experience a reduction in public funding of up to £3.3 billion by 2015.
Alison Rowe, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for London said: “As a major funder of the charitable and community sector, the Big Lottery Fund is only too aware of the increasing pressures facing organisations across the sector as the full effect of public funding cuts comes to bear.
“Today’s extra funding responds to the concerns of our grant-holders as they struggle to continue their work providing vital support and services to thousands of vulnerable and disadvantaged people across the country. It also gives some of London’s groups much needed time and space to plan for the future, and explore ways of making their projects more sustainable, whether that be developing more effective operating models, partnership working, or finding new ways to deliver activities in future.”
As part of the £70m support package, BIG also added over £25m to its two main open grants programme in England, Reaching Communities and Awards for All, to fund an additional 1,200 charitable and community projects, and has awarded almost £20 million to partner organisations that distribute or manage funding on its behalf to further support their grant holders. These include MIND, Groundwork, and Age UK, who deliver funding as part of BIG’s Well-being and Changing Spaces grants programmes.
A full list of projects awarded an extra year’s funding.
A list of projects receiving up to £10,000 to review and plan for the future.
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 46% 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 £27 billion has now been raised and more than 370,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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