- Area:
- North East England
- Programme:
- Awards for All England
- Release date:
- 23 7 2012
A Darlington project, that will work with homeless people to run a cycle repair business, is one of 49 North East groups receiving good cause cash from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) today.
Over £388,000 is being shared out across the region from BIG’s Awards for All programme, with projects in Durham, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Northumberland all benefiting. Many of the projects are aimed at helping vulnerable people to face a happier and more positive future.
First Stop Darlington has been awarded £9,500 to establish a social enterprise, teaching participants cycle mechanic skills and supporting them to run a cycle repair business. Participants will gain new skills and customer service and retail experience, which will help improve their future employment prospects and give them something positive to focus on.
Tracy Freeman of First Stop Darlington said: “This funding will enable us to purchase the equipment we need for our new social enterprise Bike Stop Darlington and will make a huge difference to the amount of informal workshops and structured training we can offer.
“Our clients are homeless people and those at risk of homelessness; this is not an issue in itself but rather a symptom of many problems and life events that have resulted in poverty and exclusion. Having a training and retail enterprise to support their recovery and help build aspirations for the future will make a huge difference, giving them hope for an independent future with employment and the means to maintain a home.”
Working with young people living in supported housing is Roc Solid Ltd in Durham, which receives close to £9,700 to run accredited horticulture training courses to improve the young people’s confidence, skills and job prospects. While Durham County Cricket Foundation receive £7,100 to give local young people the opportunity to interview some of the cricketers, film their training sessions and create an interactive match report. This will provide beneficiaries with interview, video recording, research and reporting skills to help them gain employment.
Also receiving funding this month is Sunderland Gateway Sport, whose £10,000 award will enable them to create a multi-sensory room for children and young people with profound disabilities, enabling their parents to also get some respite. While in Northumberland, Been There Done That Peer Education Ltd has been awarded just under £10,000 to set up a group of teen parents to act as peer mentors to other young people in the area, enabling the mentors to gain new skills, while giving young people in the area somewhere to go for advice.
Meanwhile in Newcastle, Fighting All Cancers Together will use their £10,000 award to deliver a year-long programme of support, awareness and education sessions for people diagnosed with cancer and their friends and family. And in Redcar and Cleveland, Bankfields Primary School has received just over £3,000 to set up a community group at the school for local adults who feel socially isolated, providing social, leisure and learning support to help participants improve their confidence and self-esteem.
James Turner, Head of Region for the North East said: “Many of the groups getting funding today are vitally important in making sure that vulnerable people have someone to turn to when they need support. The work they all do does so much to make their communities happier places to live.”
A full list of awards announced in the North East today
- 402KB
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