- Area:
- Scotland
- Programme:
- Making it Work
- Release date:
- 20 3 2012
Up to £7 million of Lottery money is to be spent on supporting Scotland’s poorest single parent families. Announced today by the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) Scotland, the largest of the National Lottery Good Cause distributors, the Making It Work scheme will help lone parents tackle the myriad of challenges they face in getting into the job market.
There are over 174,000 lone parents with 295,000 children in Scotland, with just below half living in income poverty. It’s clear that although many lone parents want to work, escalating competition for jobs coupled with finding childcare can mean some lone parents struggle to sustain or secure a job.
Speaking at an employability course for single parents at Rosemount Lifelong Learning, in Royston, Glasgow, Big Lottery Fund, Scotland Director Jackie Killeen said: “We are announcing the £7 million Making It Work scheme to support some of Scotland’s most vulnerable households and their families make the difficult move into employment. We know that many lone parents often need extra help to overcome some of the hurdles they face which prevent them from being able to work.”
“This funding will help many of Scotland's lone parents and will put their needs, which vary from family to family, first. With Making it Work we want to see services such as education, employability and childcare coming together and joining up around individual families. This will help address gaps and create a more holistic service - and give lone parent families a better chance of a better future.”
One Parent Families Scotland support BIG’s holistic approach, Satwat Rehman Director, One Parent Families Scotland said: “One Parent Families Scotland welcomes Making It Work’s focus on lone parents and employability. By recognising that there is a gap in the support available for lone parents who are not yet ready for work and targeting areas where there are high number of lone parents, the programme will provide opportunities for strategic and delivery agencies to work together at a local level and develop pathways that address the issues lone parents are identifying as barriers.
“In the current financial situation when so many lone parents are being disproportionately affected by cuts in services and are under pressure through welfare reform, this programme will offer vital support to enable lone parents to make informed choices and improve their own and their children’s life chances.”
Alex Meikle, Chief Executive Rosemount Lifelong Learning also welcomed the new funding available through Making It Work. He said: “Rosemount Lifelong learning have had the opportunity, through our Making a Difference programme, to use Big Lottery Fund funding to work with disadvantaged young parents, working with them to improve aspirations, self-confidence, social skills and encourage motivation towards volunteering, further education or employability.
“We welcome the Making It Work initiative as a step towards overcoming social isolation and developing skills that will achieve inclusion and break down the barriers towards full participation in lifelong learning and employment.”
Further Information
Emma Whitfield 0141 242 1415 or 07880 737157 emma.whitfield@biglotteryfund.org.uk
For public enquiries call 0300 1237110 or go to: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland
Notes to Editors
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 46% 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 £26 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
- The Scotland Committee, led by Chair, Maureen McGinn, has been making Big Lottery Fund decisions on Scottish projects since March 2007. As well as taking devolved decisions on Lottery spending, the Committee 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 and 2014 Communities.
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