- Area:
- West Midlands
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 14 4 2009
A project in Staffordshire offering support to children struggling with dyslexia and their parents can expand thanks to a Lottery grant, announced today.
The grant is from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme that aims to improve the lives of people and communities in need across England.
The Dyslexia Association of Staffordshire has secured a grant of £392,470 to run its Family Learning Initiative. The project is based in Newcastle-under-Lyme and will work at a number of venues in North Staffordshire, primarily in local schools. The aim of the project is to support young people in improving their opportunities and learning. The project also aims to identify dyslexia at an early age in order to avoid negative behaviour and low self-esteem that can often result from this learning difficulty.
Help begins with a full screening test, which will be administered to young people aged seven and above who are suspected of having dyslexia. Dyslexia Association of Staffordshire (DAS) will work closely with schools to identify beneficiaries. A written report and feedback will then be posted to the parent, with a copy for the child's school. Once dyslexia has been confirmed, the project will provide one-to-one training for the child or young person to develop a programme specific to their individual learning needs.
Parents of those affected by dyslexia will be offered a place on a 12-week training course that looks at the various methods.
Louise Davies, Centre Manager, said: “We are really pleased. We are looking to employ two members of staff to work in a community role. One will be promoting the service and referring people into it, the second will be delivering the service. It’s for anyone with any association with dyslexia – young people, parents and carers. We are looking at widening out our service throughout the whole of Staffordshire, reaching an audience of some 32,500. Ten per cent of the population are reported to be dyslexic.”
John Taylor, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the West Midlands, said: “This is really positive news for young people struggling with dyslexia in schools. It will help the diagnosis to be made earlier thereby limiting damage to the young person’s self esteem and ensuring they are getting the most out of their education. This Lottery grant will also help promote understanding of dyslexia and surrounding issues.”
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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