- Area:
- South West England
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 14 8 2012
Seven projects across South West England share in over £1.3 million from the Big Lottery Fund including support for carers and disabled people in Plymouth, single parents in Bristol and people with terminal illnesses in North Somerset needing hospice care support.
Today’s National Lottery good cause funding comes from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme which aims to help those most in need and build stronger communities.
Colebrook Housing Society in Plymouth receives £113,230 to develop The Opportunity Knocks Timebank which provides a flexible approach to timebanking people’s volunteering hours to support carers of disabled people across Plymouth. For every hour participants deposit of practical help and support to others they will be able to withdraw equivalent support in time when they themselves are in need whilst also benefiting from the ‘Looking After Myself’ stress management course.
Opportunity Knocks aims to remove the isolation and stress that carers of disabled people often experience from the pressure of their role looking after a loved one. Carers will also be support to get involved with the various support and steering groups including taster sessions offered by Colebrook Housing Society. Twelve events for carers to discover more about how they can be supported will be held around Plymouth.
Helen Fellows, Colebrook Housing Society said: “The Timebank will give carers and disabled people in Plymouth the opportunity to share their skills, knowledge and experience whilst reducing social isolation. Volunteering for the Timebank will make people feel more valued and encourage personal development in a friendly social environment whilst helping them with tasks and activities.”
Weston Hospicecare will now be able to support to carers of people with life-limiting illnesses to spent their last days in the comfort of their own home. Working across North Somerset, the £142,950 Lottery good cause grant will be used to create a local volunteer carer support network. Mentors will be trained to support carers through a range of activities including household chores, shopping, collecting prescriptions, driving and gardening. Carers are often reluctant to seek help, even from within their own families, and neighbours often do not know the best way to broach the subject. Volunteers will be sought by mentors from throughout the community.
Bristol’s single parents will benefit from a £250,809 Lottery grant to Single Parent Action Network (SPAN) which will provide individuals with the necessary support, skills, and work experience to help improve their family life. SPAN will work with the Young Mothers Group Trust and the local Jobcentre to work with those most in need of help providing them with childcare support to create time to develop new employment skills.
Parents will also be invited to attend courses which will provide them with the skills to develop a work life balance to support single parents back into employment whilst also managing their childcare.
Gloucestershire Nightstop receives £215,911 to provide additional supported emergency and temporary accommodation to 16-25 year olds across the county. Many young people facing homelessness do have not the means, experience or networks to resolve their own situations. Nightstop will recruit, vet and train volunteer hosts who will take young people into their own homes for between one day and six weeks to provide them with some stability whilst sorting out their own accommodation. The young people will also be able to access life skills training including budgeting and cookery to help them with living independently.
Restoration and an extension will soon begin on the building used by Polkerris Scout Group, nr St Austell as it receives £80,466. Once work has been completed, the building will be a great new space for use by the whole community including youth groups from throughout the region for water based activities and camping. Local residents are also planning to use it for workshops, health and fitness activities and a beach cookery school.
West Cornwall Women’s Aid receives £269,142 for its volunteer programme which will provide direct support to women and families fleeing domestic abuse and sexual violence through a telephone helpline, one to one counselling, home visits and safe accommodation.
And finally, Weymouth Community Volunteers (WCV) will use £253,331 for its Re-Start programme which provides training, voluntary work and employment for those who likely to struggle including people with mental health or addiction issues and ex-offenders. WCV will work closely with voluntary and statutory agencies to identify individuals most in need of help. Structured activities tailored to the individual will help reduce the likelihood of relapse or a return to a life with addiction or offending.
Mark Cotton, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region South West said: “Over £1.3 million will make a difference to so many individuals including opening up new facilities to rural communities around Polkerris to supporting young homeless people in Gloucestershire and helping women and their families to become survivors of domestic abuse. Today’s Lottery funding reaches into the heart of communities when they are most in need.”
Further Information
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
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund
Notes to Editors
- 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 June 2004 BIG has awarded over £4.4bn.
- 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 £28 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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