Lottery cash fixes it for West Somerset elderly and disabled

Area:

South West England

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

30 1 2007

The three-year grant to the SCHIP Home Improvement Agency will fund the SCHIP Fix-it Team, to carry out basic repair and maintenance work around the homes of disabled and elderly people. A Handyman will be employed to carryout jobs such as changing light bulbs, fitting garb rails, and moving furniture, ensuring elderly and disabled people can remain in their own homes for longer and increase independent living.

SCHIP Agency Manager, Mary Ewing, said: “SCHIP is delighted with the news about the Big Lottery Fund funding.  The Handyperson scheme will be of enormous benefit to vulnerable clients helping for example with emergency repairs and hospital discharge.  The scheme will also provide opportunities for volunteers and for additional joint working with SCHIP's many partners. Thank you very much for your help."

Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the South West, Mark Cotton, said: “This excellent scheme will put many elderly and disabled people’s minds at ease with the knowledge that there is someone there that can carry out basic, but much needed repairs around their homes. Our Reaching Communities programme is all about supporting local projects like this, that provide a helping hand to some of the most disadvantaged people living in the region.”

Another South West scheme benefiting from today’s awards is Community First’s Wiltshire Wheels to Work project that has been awarded £31,378 to get young people in rural Wiltshire on their bikes and into training and employment.

The two year award to Devizes based, Community First, will help lease mopeds to young people aged 16-26 in rural areas of Wiltshire and Swindon so they can access employment and training opportunities. Without the Wiltshire Wheels to Work scheme many young people living in isolated areas would have to pass on job offers and training because of a lack of private and public transport.

Wiltshire Wheels to Work Co-ordinator, Helen Lines, said: “Wiltshire Wheels to Work aims to provide supported transport access to employment and training through a leased moped scheme for people living in rural areas of Wiltshire.

“The scheme currently operates 20 mopeds that can be leased under contract for a six month period by people who have been offered employment but are unable to take up the opportunity because of a lack of available and viable transport options. The project began in July 2006 and by December 2006 had helped 23 people gain access to employment.

“We now plan to try and expand our pool of mopeds to enable more users to access the scheme. We are exploring local commercial sponsorship opportunities and hope to be able to increase our moped pool to 30 over the coming year – thus enabling us to help up to 60 people a year to gain supported access to employment.”

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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