- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- Improving Futures
- Release date:
- 5 3 2012
A north Wales project supporting young children growing up in very difficult circumstances today receives nearly £900,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.
Mantell Gwynedd Cyf’s Teulu Ni (Our Family) project has been awarded £863,832 under BIG’s Improving Futures programme, which will provide up to £26 million for more joined-up and earlier support to families with multiple and complex problems.
BIG’s backing will see families being offered tailored support from local voluntary sector organisations working in partnerships with public services. Each partnership will receive up to £900,000 over three to five years to work with families whose eldest children are aged five to ten years old.
The programme will see some of the largest charities working together with some of the smallest community organisations and local public services to trial a range of family interventions. Some projects will involve rolling out evidence-based parenting programmes, redesigning services on an area-wide basis or reaching out in new ways to those families who are most marginalised or under the radar.
With its grant, charity Mantell Gwynedd Cyff, working in partnership with Barnardo’s Cymru, Groundworks, SNAP Cymru, Cartref Bontnewydd, Action for Children and Gwynedd Council, will support 120 families in the county’s rural areas over three years. The project aims to help families who have not previously received intervention and those who have received help but require additional support to prevent future referrals.
Families’ educational, social and economic needs will be assessed and they will then be signposted to appropriate services. The funding will also support schemes to improve parenting skills with particular emphasis on working with fathers to improve their relationships with their children.
Other features include advice, counselling and environment related experiences such as gardening, fishing, walking and climbing.
Carwyn Humphreys, from Mantell Gwynedd Cyf, said: “The ‘Teulu Ni’ (Our Family) project will provide joined up and tailored support for a number of families in Gwynedd. It will bring the opportunity for multi agency collaboration in order to ensure the best outcomes for these families”.
Highlighting the importance of the funding, Sir Adrian Webb, Big Lottery Fund Wales Chair and UK Board Member, said: "We all know that children's life chances are affected by the environment they are born into. Some families are dealing with complex issues of poor housing, long term unemployment, drug and alcohol misuse and various health problems. These are largely adult issues but they have serious consequences for their children's lives.
“Children who live in and around these families tend to do less well in school, tend to have poorer health and can often grow up to have similar problems themselves. To improve the life chances of those children, joined-up support is needed across the whole family.”
He added: “This programme is about innovation and finding successful, cost effective ways of helping those families, so that their problems don’t escalate into crisis. The thorough evaluation accompanying this work will help ensure that what we learn benefits children and their families well beyond the projects themselves.”
Naomi Eisenstadt, original architect of the Sure Start programme and one of the experts who helped BIG design the Improving Futures programme, said: "What is really important about Improving Futures programme is that it's going to focus on children aged five to ten years old, who are at the moment frequently being overlooked in terms of support.
“The primary school age is a crucial stage in childhood development, when problems can still be corrected before they become too entrenched. If you can reach children in this age group, there is still a good chance of turning their lives around and giving them a better future. I am delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has made this commitment and I am sure it will make a real difference."
Further Information
Oswyn Hughes - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 227
Out of Hours Contact: 07500 951707
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 around £100,000 a day in 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 £27 billion has now been raised and more than 370,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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