- Area:
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- Programme:
- Reaching Communities
- Release date:
- 14 4 2009
People living on the Chickenley estate in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire will soon have access to a range of new health, education and training services, as the Big Lottery Fund awards £120,892 to Chickenley Community Centre.
Delivering essential services at the heart of the community, the three-year ‘Raising Bars – Lowering Barriers’ project will help improve the health and life chances of local people. Funding comes from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme which works to improve lives and local communities.
The aim of the project is to reduce deprivation on the estate, particularly focusing on health, education, training and low income by offering a host of learning activities and courses and increasing the number of services the community centre provides.
Working with 16 partner organisations, including West Yorkshire Police, Young People's Service, Kirklees College, NHS Kirklees, local churches and Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing, a community development officer will be employed to coordinate the activities and courses.
The officer will knit together the links between partner organisations and build a neighbourhood action group to maximise the involvement of local people in shaping much needed training and support services.
Catherine Scott, Chickenley Community Centre, said: “This is tremendous news that the Raising Bars Lowering Barriers can go ahead. This National Lottery Funding will make a significant difference to the community of Chickenley; improving awareness of health and education issues and helping the people of Chickenley play a full part in planning for their future"
Caroline James, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for Yorkshire & The Humber, said: “This project comes at a vital time as many people are feeling the effects of the financial downturn. Giving people access to education, training and advice can only help them to find a means to get through this difficult time, while other activities will improve the health and well being of the local community.”
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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