- Area:
- Scotland
- Programme:
- Investing In Communities
- Release date:
- 18 7 2012
Two groups that aim to help vulnerable women turn their lives around are today (18 JULY) sharing in Big Lottery Fund grants of over £1 million. Based in Dundee and Edinburgh the projects will support 450 women, many of whom have experienced mental ill health, to move on with their lives with confidence.
Announcing the awards, totalling £1,008,753, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “These awards will support life changing projects, which share the common goal of transforming life chances - with two very different beneficiary groups. Both projects enable women to integrate with their communities and identify longer-term goals for happy, healthy living. We are delighted to be funding these projects which support women from marginalised groups to adopt positive roles within our society.”
A project helping to move women out of prostitution towards a more stable life today receives £527,692. The Vice Versa project run by the Dundee Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, in partnership with Cair Scotland, will work with women aged 16 years and over providing them with advice and information, as well as intensive one-to-one support with issues such as housing and future life planning.
Kay Lonergan, Outreach Support Worker, Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received an award from the Big Lottery Fund for five years funding for our Vice Versa Project.This funding will enable us to continue to have a significant impact at a local level, building on the existing pilot and the strong partnerships already in place to effectively tackle the issue of prostitution in Dundee and provide a much needed support service to some of our community’s most vulnerable women. Demand for the service is high and this award will increase the capacity of the support service significantly to bring a much wider range of services.”
Edinburgh group Saheliya receives £481,061 for the Saheliya Women’s Learning Centre project to provide 400 women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds with poor mental health with training for work, ESOL courses and accredited classes to improve their financial literacy. The project will help the women to build the skills for living more independently and integrating more fully within their local communities.
Mary Hastie, Business Development Co-ordinator said: “We are delighted beyond measure to receive this grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The money will enable us to develop the Saheliya Women's Learning Centre and provide BME women with opportunities to increase their employability and money management skills. This will in turn lead to improved personal wellbeing and support more effective social integration.”
The awards form part of a wider package of grants totalling £2,973,084.
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office
0141 242 1458
Public Enquiries Line: 0870 240 2391
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
- 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 £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.
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