Sport funding to inspire young people to achieve in life

Area:

North West England

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

16 10 2012

Around 1,000 young people living in high crime pockets of Greater Manchester are to be offered sports training and volunteering opportunities to do positive work in their community.

The Big Lottery Fund has awarded £179,039 to Greater Manchester Sports Partnership (GMSP) to start a new project to set up 75 sports and personal skills courses including an Introduction to Coaching Level 1 in football, cricket and athletics.

Eleven organisations across the North West today share in more than £3 million from BIG’s flagship Reaching Communities programme which helps those most in need and builds stronger communities. The project will operate in Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Eleven organisations across

The young people who complete a course or qualification will also have to commit to perform 10 hours of volunteering in their community by putting on or supporting a sporting activity. They will be able to register on an online portal with access to 500 sports clubs where they will be able to link to one in their own area and take up volunteer work to improve motivation and life skills.

GMSP Deputy Chief Executive, Matthew Johnson, said “Without the grant from the Big Lottery Fund this project wouldn’t be happening. It is aimed at young people who live in high crime area who don’t do any positive activities and perhaps engage in antisocial behaviour.

“We will be using sport as a way of inspiring young people, to encourage them to experience the rewarding feelings that come from taking up a challenge, volunteering, providing leadership and communicating well with others. We will be offering a variety of sports courses such as football, cricket and basketball and as well as volunteering opportunities in sports like handball and athletics which are becoming more popular perhaps as a result of the Olympics. Through these courses and volunteering we hope to help put them on the path to a more positive future.”

Meanwhile, a Liverpool allotment project that was the inspiration for the successful UK film Grow Your Own receives £286,476 to continue to alleviate Post Traumatic Stress Disorder suffered by families caused by war, torture and persecution before arrival in the UK. Family Refugee Support Project seeks to improve the physical health of refugees and adults and children seeking asylum and increase their integration into the wider community through horticulture. Families are given an allotment, tools and plants and will meet with therapists, horticulturalists and meet other families who can offer emotional and practical support.  

Crisis UK receives £292,779 to develop and expand a project for single homeless and vulnerably housed people in Merseyside which will equip them with the skills and confidence to progress into education, training or employment. Clients will benefit from informal and accredited learning opportunities and well as services to improve their wellbeing. These will include print-making, digital photography, gardening, volunteering, producing the newsletter, creative and perform arts, guitar lessons and yoga. The project aims to help 900 people from Liverpool, Wirral, St Helen’s, Sefton and Knowsley.

Financially struggling families in Salford will be helped by a project which receives £378,151 to address increasing levels of debt and tackling its root causes. Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre will offer training in literacy, numeracy and IT, healthy lifestyle information, stress management, job search facilities, support with CV writing and interview techniques.

In the past four years more than 7,000 people have accessed debt management advice services, 874 stress management and healthy living training, 887 support with CV writing and interview techniques and 13,780 received information on credit unions. The project hopes to work with a further 26,000 over the next four years.

More than 1,000 older people will benefit from activities provided by Age Concern Manchester which receives £397,142 to reduce isolation and depression and encourage them to become more active. The project will initially involve residents of sheltered housing schemes and later develop more services to vulnerable and isolated people who live independently. They will receive a welfare benefits check to ensure they are receiving what they are entitled to and healthy lifestyles information. Activities will include dance, walking, film clubs, arts and crafts workshops and outings.

Helen Bullough, Big Lottery Fund’s Head of the North West region, said: “We have seen from the Olympics how sport can inspire people from all walks of life. We are very excited about the Greater Manchester project and how it will offer young people the opportunity to lean new and useful skills as well as take part in volunteering work in their own community.

“All of these grants across our region will improve the lives of thousands of the most vulnerable people and help build stronger communities.”

Other projects receiving funding today are:

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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