- Area:
- South East England
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 30 1 2007
Training in basic IT and communication skills will create work and social integration opportunities for members of the Asian community in Crawley thanks to a £156,001 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.
The grant from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme to the Khaleefah Society Ltd will train at least 1,000 adults who are excluded by their lack of IT skills and language difficulties that hinder learning.
Big Lottery Fund Head of South East England Alison Rowe said: “This excellent project will plug many people in to opportunities in life that would otherwise pass them by because they didn’t have the confidence or skills to go online or create a word processing document. It typifies how the Reaching Communities programme is bringing people together and offering new chances to many people in need.”
Parmjit Chana, Khaleefah Society Ltd Project Manager, said: "We are thrilled that the Big Lottery Fund have chosen to support our project. This grant will enable us to set up a Key IT Skills training course in Crawley and the surrounding area to help the ethnic Asian community improve their career prospects, reduce social exclusion and improve the overall quality of their lives. A big thank you from everyone involved."
Training will include using the internet and software packages for word processing, accounting and creating presentations. Teachers fluent in languages such as Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu will deliver training that will develop skills transferable to the workplace, lift confidence and self-esteem, encourage community participation and lead to further education.
BIG’s Reaching Communities programme awards grants of up to £500,000 over five years for schemes that offer people better chances in life, build strong communities, improve urban and rural environments and promote healthy activities.
The Khaleefah Society’s project is among five schemes in the South East receiving awards totalling 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 the Isle of Wight a host of activities for young people around East Cowes will be guaranteed for the next five years thanks to a £255,907 award to the Pavilion East Cowes, Community Interest Company.
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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