Grant secures services for young people in East Cowes

Area:

South East England

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

30 1 2007

The Pavilion East Cowes, Community Interest Company (CIC) will use the cash to deliver social, sport and recreation services for 8-18 year-olds and reach out to more young people.

The Pavilion will receive the funds from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, which awards schemes that offer people better chances in life, build strong communities, improve urban and rural environments and promote healthy activities.

Big Lottery Fund Head of South East England Alison Rowe said: “The Pavilion’s scheme will bring exciting and healthy activities and greater opportunities in life to more young people on the Isle of Wight. It typifies how the Reaching Communities programme touches many people and places.”

Youngsters go to the Pavilion, in the Vectis Road estate, on five nights a week for gym, sports, computer, arts and crafts, nutrition advice, school holiday club and other activities.  

Cllr Charlie Hancock, Chairman of The Pavilion East Cowes CIC, said the Pavilion was the only safe place in the deprived area for young people to go for the services, which improved life skills and reduced anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Hancock said: “The wonderful thing is that apart from securing the ongoing provision of our activities over the next five years, this grant will expand our opportunities to broaden our work in the Isle of Wight.

“We will now reach those kids who are more difficult to reach and will adapt our program for them to challenge them in appropriate ways in partnerships with other organisations.”

The Pavilion will hire staff to work with hard-to-reach young people in East Cowes. The cash will also expand the availability of the gym and provide opportunities for young people to experience more of the island with the help of the charity’s programmes.

The grant is the first from BIG for the charity, which is has run programmes for three years and is currently funded by Children in Need, Connexions, Youth Justice Forum, Hampshire Police Crime Prevention Panel and one off donations from local businesses.

The Pavilion’s project is among five schemes in the South East that are receiving in total more than £1.1 million from the Reaching Communities programme.

The City of Brighton and Hove Credit Union Limited has received £76,152 over four years for its Money Matters project that will provide one-stop financial help for thousands of households on low incomes. In Crawley, training in basic IT and communication skills will create opportunities for work and social integration for the ethnic community in a project by the Khaleefah Society Ltd granted £156,001.

The Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project has received £149,803 over five years for its HealthWorks scheme to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of people excluded from the community because of poverty or mental health issues. A new Southampton outreach service will break the cycle of poverty caused by mental illness thanks to a £471,371 award to Solent Mind and Southampton CAB.

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone:  845 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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