- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- Awards for All Wales
- Release date:
- 27 11 2012
A horse riding group for disabled people and a project to support men with mental health problems are among the range of groups and organisations sharing in nearly a quarter of a million pounds awarded from the Big Lottery Fund’s (BIG) Awards for All programme today.
A total of 62 community-based projects across Wales share in the £231,218 awarded under the latest round of the Awards for All small grants programme (full list of awards at the end of the release. Please contact Oswyn Hughes to obtain full project descriptions).
There is support for the vulnerable and those with learning difficulties and disabilities in Wales under the lastest round. In West Wales, the North Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire Group Riding for the Disabled Association will use their £5,000 to install a new portacabin at their base in Bwlchygroes where they provide weekly sessions for disabled horse and pony riders of all ages during school term times. The group have been operating for more than 40 years and use a portacabin as a base for their activities. The cabin was second hand when the group acquired it ten years ago and is now in a very poor state of repair and not secure.
Delighted with the funding, Mrs Virginia Gristwood, the Chair of the North Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire Group Riding for the Disabled Association, said: “We wouldn’t have been able to have this new cabin without the funding and I don’t know what we would have done without it. The unit is where we keep all of our equipment and it’s where we gather before we go out riding. It’s also a social area where we can sit and have a cup of tea.”
“This project is life changing for people with disabilities and helps in many different ways. Riding helps improve their co-ordination, balance and increases their muscle strength. It also helps improve their confidence. For some of them, it’s the only physical exercise they get and chance to socialise outside of school. It also reduces loneliness and enables them to make friends and meet new people.”
Through the Another Step Forward project, The Wallabies (Men's Support Group) in Merthyr Tydfil will use their award of £840 on organising a series of outings for men facing mental health issues. The outings will give them the chance to meet new people and improve their self confidence. The members of the group all experience problems with mental ill health, making them feel socially isolated and prone to bouts of depression.
One person who is delighted with the funding is 67 year old retired Postman, Lester Chang. As group Treasurer, he is one of the twelve members who meet each week to offer support for each other. Lester has Bipolar, Diabetes and Arthritis which means he often struggles to get out and about.
“We all have mental health problems and we support each other,” explains Lester.
“Many support groups have closed in the area and this was a concern for us. We wanted to carry on supporting each other and socialising with each other and that’s why we applied for this funding. This is very important to us as a group. These outings will give the members something to aim for and to look forward to.”
Projects which celebrate diversity, promote cultural understanding, integration, co-operation and friendship also share in the latest awards. In the Pillgwenlly area of Newport, a grant of £4,765 will enable the Ta'aleem Alnyssa organisation to set up the Frontline Community Caseworkers project - an advice centre for women from black, ethnic minority, asylum and refugee communities. The Pillgwenlly area of Newport is home to many different cultures and Ta'aleem Alnyssa is one of very few local groups which is open to women from all cultures and contains a mix of ethnicities including Somali, Sudanese, Pakistani, Yemeni and Congolese. Women within the organisation speak several different languages including English, Welsh, Arabic, Bengali, Urdu, French and Somali.
Members of the group are trusted within their local community and are frequently called upon to offer advice and support to people who have a wide range of problems as there is no cultural concept with their community of approaching outside agencies for advice. With the money, the group will set up a very informal but professional weekly drop in advice service run from a local community centre which the women are familiar with.
Highlighting the importance of the project, Mrs Ghada Yassin, the Chair of the Ta'aleem Alnyssa group, said: “This grant is really going to benefit women from the BME community. The tendency is for them to ask neighbours and friends for advice with a reluctance to approach statutory or voluntary organisations. One of the main problems is language. Our group supports people in nine different languages.”
“Without projects like this, it would be difficult for women in the community to deal with their problems. It’s about giving these women confidence. It might be a simple thing to most of us, but lots of these women need support with basic things such as filling in a form and don’t know where to go to for advice and support.”
She added: “This project will assist women who often suffer from severe language and cultural barriers to access advice which will help with their problems and support them into training or employment and also give them the opportunity to socialise and find out what services are available to them locally.”
Young people throughout Wales will also be able to increase their confidence and learn new skills thanks to BIG’s support. The Prince's Trust will spend £5,000 on engaging with around 60 disadvantaged young people throughout South Wales, helping them to re-engage with society and to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills. In Cardiff, the A LEAP Limited organisation will use their £4,965 to train young people advice and support skills They will then be supported to apply their new skills through participating in voluntary action in their communities. And in Amlwch on the Isle of Anglesey, the 1st Amlwch Guides will spend their award of £2,810 on a four night activity break to a Girlguiding camp in Cheshire where they will learn new skills aimed at increasing their self confidence and independence.
Projects that aim to increase access and participation also reap the rewards from the latest awards. With their award of £5000 the Cornelly and District Development Trust in Cornelly, Bridgend, will establish a new community internet cafe, providing a focal point for the community and a range of training and volunteering opportunities. And it’s lights, camera, action in Carmarthenshire as Cae'r Felin Community School aims to spend their £5,000 on running an extra-curricular film club. Weekly sessions over a period of six months will be held with a film specialist.
Gareth Williams, Awards for All Programme Manager for BIG in Wales, said: “Awards for All is having a positive impact throughout Wales. Money is helping to establish groups, societies and clubs, promoting learning, increasing volunteering opportunities and helping to build stronger communities.”
Available in English and Welsh, application forms are available to download from www.awardsforall.org.uk or by phone on 0845 4 10 20 30.
A full list of awards announced in Wales today.
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 207
Out of Hours Contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £100,000 a day in National Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was 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 £28 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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