New wave of Lottery funding for combat veterans surf action

Area:

South West England

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

19 3 2013

A project striving to improve the well-being of combat veterans suffering from PTSD through the benefits of surfing and beach activities, creative arts, employment training and holistic therapy in Cornwall and Devon, will be able to continue and expand thanks to a grant of more than £363,000 from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).

The project is one of five sharing almost £1.3m across the South West today.

The Surf Action Centre of Excellence project focuses on helping veterans suffering from PTSD with issues such as isolation, unemployment, family breakdown and adjustment disorders. The  lottery good cause backing will enable the project to run twice weekly surfing and beach activities aiming to boost self-esteem and engagement.

There will also be family intervention workshops for partners and children of PTSD sufferers, who can come along to the beach activities and also learn more about their partners’ or parents’ condition and how best to support them. Creative awareness and art workshops will be available, including music and complementary therapies. Veterans will also be encouraged to attend workshops in personal development, goal setting, training and skills development courses. 

The project, which has worked with more than 200 veterans and service personnel since 2009, was runner up in the 2011 National Lottery Awards in 2011 for the best health project and has been part of the national advertising campaign. It now plans to raise more awareness and understanding of PTSD among health providers and employers.

Also receiving funding today is Creative Youth Network (CYN), which will reach out to disadvantaged and NEET young people in Bristol City Centre, giving them opportunities to develop their personal qualities and work-based skills to get them back into work, education or training. Through their £270,957 grant, CYN has designed The Dick Whittington Effect project to facilitate the needs of young people who have a range of potential, whereby qualifications and skills can be learnt on different levels.

Initial engagement with young people will happen through creative outreach work, in art, music, film and editing, followed by an eight week programme called Bright Futures. Each young person will complete a learning plan exploring CV writing and interview techniques. Participants can progress to the City of Bristol College which will act as a progression and accreditation partner, with the college agreeing to take on apprentices. For those young people who don't quite reach this level, they can take a course called Education Unlimited which will top up their skills.       

And Relate Mid Wiltshire’s Time To Talk project, enabled through their grant of £110,109, will provide a counselling service to children aged 5-11 years who are experiencing severe emotional distress, within primary schools across deprived and rural areas of Wiltshire. The project will expand to offering support on a weekly basis within 16 schools. Issues affecting children participating in the counselling sessions are likely to include witnessing a range of complex family situations including domestic abuse, anger issues and substance and alcohol abuse. The schools already participating in the project have reported an improvement in the children’s behaviour which has helped to develop their emotional resilience and problem solving skills.

Today’s funding across the South West comes from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, aiming to help those most in need and build stronger communities.

Helen Bullough, Big Lottery Fund spokesperson, said: “I’m delighted this month’s National Lottery funding is able to support veterans through therapy which is both enjoyable and effective, while helping them to integrate back into civilian life and overcome the difficulties of post traumatic stress syndrome.

“Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme is all about bringing real improvements to communities, and enabling people to have better chances in life. I am sure today’s good causes funding of almost £1.3m will help to build stronger, healthier communities across the South West.

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
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• 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 its inception in 2004 BIG has awarded close to £6bn.
• 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 £29 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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