- Area:
- Scotland
- Programme:
- Making it Work
- Release date:
- 17 4 2013
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) Scotland today (17 APRIL) announces a package of funding worth up to £7 million to support Scotland’s poorest single parent families. The Making it Work scheme will help lone parents tackle the many challenges they face in getting into the job market.
It is estimated that there are over 174,000 lone parents with 295,000 children in Scotland. Just below half are living in income poverty. While many lone parents want to work, escalating competition for jobs along with the challenge of finding the right childcare can mean some struggle to sustain or secure a job.
Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Jackie Killeen said: “Making it Work has a big ambition: to improve the lives of single parent families. The five partnerships we are supporting today have taken approaches which suit their local needs and circumstances. We want to see services such as education, employability and childcare coming together to help create a more holistic service and give lone parent families a better chance of a brighter future.”
Edinburgh Making it Work will help lone parents develop skills to manage childcare and family budgets at the same time as they are improving their employability skills. Capital City Partnership will use their £1,206,633 grant to work with lone parents in Edinburgh who need extra support to help them get back into the workplace. The project will offer lone parents a dedicated key support worker and access to a range of assistance including confidence building, childcare tasters, financial advice and guidance, work experience and core employability skills training.
Councillor Frank Ross, Chair of Capital City Partnership, said: “We believe it is important that lone parents are supported to move into jobs. We also know they need to be happy that their children are being well cared for and that they can manage tight budgets in these challenging times. That is why we are delighted that Big Lottery Fund Scotland has made this award. Along with our partners Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council, One Parent Families Scotland, Scottish Childminding Association and City of Edinburgh Employability and Skills team we aim to improve the way lone parents are supported when they are looking for work. Over the next four years Making it Work Edinburgh will work with lone parents and their families and help as many as possible to find sustainable jobs that benefit them and their families in the long term.”
Frances Chisholm, Press Team Scotland: 0141 242 1458
Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 7110 Text phone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website:
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
• Making it Work is targeting Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, North and South Lanarkshire.
• 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. 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 £25 billion over £28 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
• The Scotland Committee, has been making Big Lottery Fund decisions on Scottish projects since March 2007. As well as taking devolved decisions on Lottery spending, the Committee, led by Chair, Maureen McGinn, has and will continue to play a strategic role in the future direction of BIG in Scotland.
• The Big Lottery Fund is investing in Scotland’s communities through its Investing in Communities portfolio, as well as the small grants schemes Awards for All, Investing in Ideas, Communities and Families and 2014 Communities.
Tags