- Area:
- West Midlands
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 14 4 2009
Support for people suffering from mental health problems living in Solihull can continue through a Big Lottery Fund grant announced today.
The grant is from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme that aims to improve the lives of people and communities in need across England.
Solihull MIND receives a grant of £260,831 for its ABL (Advocacy for Better Lives) project. This is a service that offers advocacy and access to support and information services to people with mental health issues who often feel very isolated. Services include both crisis and preventative support and guidance.
The group helps people lacking self-confidence or those facing stigma. Some of the issues that ABL addresses include helping people caught up in inappropriate housing, neighbour disputes, financial crisis or people suffering from breakdowns in relationships.
People are supported through access to counselling, employment advice and healthy living and leisure activities to help prevent crisis situations building up. If crisis situations do occur, individuals are supported in a number of ways including court appearances, divorce proceedings, financial predicaments, housing problems and domestic violence incidents.
Noreen Mather, Director, said: “This is wonderful news! We are delighted that BIG’s support will mean that we can create greater opportunities and make a real difference to the lives of people with mental health problems. We anticipate that 250 people will benefit from the project over its three-year life span. They will live in the borough of Solihull which includes four wards in the top 10 per cent most deprived in the country.”
John Taylor, Big Lottery Head of Region for the West Midlands, said: “This is great news for mental health sufferers who find themselves caught up in a crisis, or who just need some advice. Thanks to Lottery funding, hundreds of people who otherwise could not afford help will be able to get the support they need to tackle a wide range of difficulties.”
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 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
- Under Reaching Communities, the Big Lottery Fund awards grants between £10,000 and £500,000 to projects that offer people better life chances, build stronger communities, develop improved rural and urban environments and improve health and well being.
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half 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. 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 £22 billion has now been raised and more than 300,500 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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