BIG brightens future for North West with £4.5m share out

Area:

North West England

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

11 9 2012

Over £4.5 million in good cause funding is being pumped into 17 projects in the North West region today by the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).The very big award delivery spans the length and breadth of the region.  

Skills and socialising for young disabled people, support for those with mental health issues and a thriving new village hub are among the projects benefiting from BIG’s Reaching Communities awards programme, which aims to help those most in need and build stronger communities.

In West Lancashire, the Brighter Future Workshop receives £309,090 to create a social enterprise and provide opportunities for severely-disabled young people to learn and gain skills in a safe environment, improve their self-esteem and wellbeing and make new friends. The project collects donated mobility equipment including wheelchairs, walking frames and scooters, and repairs, refurbishes, and recycles them. The equipment is then sold at a minimal cost to local people with disabilities, as well as on-line through its own Ebay shop. Equipment is also loaned to customers while their equipment is being repaired, so they can maintain their mobility and independence.  

The young people will receive one-to-one support and mentoring and can work towards gaining accredited qualifications. Local unemployed people will also be recruited as volunteers to support the project, enabling them to gain new skills and confidence. The scheme will also provide places for local school children to work in the workshop as an alternative to academic qualifications.

Peter Cousins MBE,Chairman of Brighter Future, said: “We are delighted to have beenawarded this funding; it will help us to reach more youngdisabled people to train them in our workshop.This in turn will help produce even more recycled equipment that goes back into the disabled community, for those who cannot afford new.”

Threlkeld Village Hall Trust in Cumbria has been awarded £431,143 to transform their current run down village hall into a modern community centre to be a focal point for the village and provide a wide range of activities. The current main hall will be completely refurbished and a single-storey extension will be added to the side and rear. The building will then have a main hall with a new kitchen, toilets and showers, storage and a community café at the back with its own kitchen and a patio area for outdoor seating. The café will generate an income to fund the upkeep of the hall.

Also receiving funding today is Enterprise Credit Union (ECU) in Knowsley, which receives £267,461 to continue and develop its Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). This service is aimed at improving the financial literacy and money management skills of local people and address debt, financial problems and exclusion. Each year eight, three-hour advice and information sessions will be held in the community to help participants make changes to their budgets and prevent small issues spiralling out of control.

People needing intensive advice and support can attend one-to-one sessions with a specialist debt advisor, who will tailor support to their circumstances. Volunteers from the local community, especially ex-clients, will be supported and encouraged to become volunteers, initially working in the office and moving on to helping out at the money advice sessions once they are trained.

In Manchester, TLC – St Luke’s (TLCSL) will use its £205,691 award to continue hosting regular drop-in sessions and develop new activities for people with mental health issues. They will also support people, including those with a psychiatric diagnosis, to get involved in activities to reduce their isolation and improve their mental health. The project will also expand and develop to deal with people's increasingly complex needs, and offer additional tailored advice sessions.

New weekly drop-in sessions will also be introduced, including a drop-in aimed at vulnerable women, a drop-in at a local sports hall where people can take part in sporting activities and a Saturday social drop in session so people don’t feel isolated at the weekend. Legal-aid advice will also be provided at one of the drop-ins, and work around debt and finance issues. During the five-year project, around 40 clients will be encouraged to volunteer, with a further 15 recruited through Manchester Volunteer Centre. Volunteers will be able to take on duties including befriending and peer-support and day-to-day running of the drop-in sessions, which will help them to gain new skills and improve their future prospects.

Helen Bullough, Big Lottery Fund’s Head of the North West region, said: “I am delighted to announce this bumper round of funding today to community projects across the region. To see the variety of projects being awarded today is very exciting and we look forward to watching them develop and continue their inspiring work over the coming years.”

A full list of awards announced across the North West today.

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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