BIG headway for Oxford brain injury project

Area:

South East England

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

20 2 2007

The grants, part of over £2.1 million awarded today across the South East under BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, will go to Headway Oxford - and Age Concern Oxfordshire.

Big Lottery Fund Head of South East England Alison Rowe said: “These crucial projects will give vulnerable people across Oxfordshire a chance for brighter prospects and better opportunities by helping them cope with illness, disadvantage and social isolation. They typify how the Reaching Communities programme is making a real difference to so many lives.”

A project, which provides support for people who have suffered a brain injury, will today receive £393,191 to expand its service. Headway Oxford - Community Brain Injury Project II, set up to help reduce the anxiety of sufferers and their carers across Oxfordshire, will provide three dedicated support workers to make home and hospital visits, liaise with community based staff and provide vocational support. The project will offer activities from, memory work, literacy and numeracy, to arts and craft, tai chi, IT sessions, social activities and indoor sports at the Oxford Centre for Enablement. The project, which aims to enable sufferers to live an independent life, will also give support to those who wish to return to paid or voluntary work.

Jackie Goodwin, Service manager said: “We are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has awarded us a grant. This will be used to support people with brain injury in Oxfordshire to become more involved in their local communities; to regain lost skills and find gainful employment.”

A rural community development programme to offer social activities and services for older people in the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire area has today received £349,969. Located at drop in centres across the community, Age Concern Oxfordshire City and County - Rural Community Development Project, will provide older people with chiropody services and activities such as painting, arts and crafts, and computer sessions. The aim of the programme is to offer older people a range of activities and facilities, which would otherwise prove difficult to access.

Penny Thewlis, Director of Development and Empowerment said: “We are so excited about the prospect of starting work on this project and very grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for giving us the opportunity. It’s going to be really challenging, but we hope that working with local communities and a wide range of partners we will be able to make a real difference to the lives of older people in some of Oxfordshire’s rural communities, where activities and opportunities can be either thin on the ground or difficult to get to.”

The Reaching Communities programme awards up to £500,000 to projects that offer people better chances in life, build strong communities, improve urban and rural environments and promote healthy activities.

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
• On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.
• Reaching Communities is part of the Big Lottery Fund’s portfolio of new programmes. Following an intense and comprehensive process of consultation with stakeholders and the general public over the last year, the Fund has undertaken to distribute 60-70% of its funding to the third sector.  At least one-third of BIG funding will be demand-led and lightly prescribed.  In England, this will amount to at least £600 million over the period 2005-2009. This commitment will be met from a variety of funding streams, including, Reaching Communities, Awards for All, part of the Young People’s Fund, Community Buildings, Advice Services and the People’s Millions.
• UK-wide, the Big Lottery Fund will distribute through its new programmes and allocations funding worth over £2.6bn between now and April 2009. Regularly updated information on the Big Lottery Fund’s new programmes is available at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/publications.htm

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