BIG breath of fresh air for Welsh communities

Area:

Wales

Programme:

People and Places

Release date:

2 5 2008

A total of £3,195,150 has been awarded to sixteen projects throughout Wales, which all aim to bring people together to make communities stronger and to improve rural and urban environments.

Thanks to their award of £245,427, the British Lung Foundation will run a project that aims to reach more people living with long term and debilitating lung disease and their carers in Wales, supporting them to get the information they need to manage their condition and improve their quality of life. By introducing new 'Breathe Easy' peer support groups in areas with high incidence of lung disease, the project will meet the needs of patients and carers by providing support and information about lung disease and welfare benefits. New and existing Breathe Easy groups will be supported to come together and enable members to find ways of managing their condition and tackle their problems together. Group members will also be trained and supported to actively influence local and national respiratory services in Wales.

With their award of £142,218, the Welsh Scout Council will run the ‘Leading the Way’ outreach project, which will employ two volunteer coordinators to recruit and train 360 volunteers throughout Wales who will then deliver the Scout programme directly to around 1,350 young people. The volunteers will be trained as Leaders, Assistant Leaders and Trustees to be part of the essential support team contributing towards the sustainability of the newly established scouting groups.

Issues faced by refugee and asylum seeking women in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea will be addressed, thanks to the £247,411 awarded to Oxfam. The project will work in partnership with Refugee Community Organisations in the cities and will include provision of drop-ins and activities to reduce social isolation. Women will be trained to become champions for their community and advocates for better services to meet the specific needs of the target beneficiaries. The project will also provide training for front-line service providers so that they are better able to account for gender in service planning and delivery for refugees and asylum seekers.

Commenting on the positive impact the awards will have on the communities throughout Wales, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee Member and Chair of the People and Places Committee, Janet Reed, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales. People and Places delivers on our promise to use Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy. I’m sure these awards will have a positive impact on the lives of many people in the community and will continue to do so for years to come."

The £66 million People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects. For further information about the People and Places programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk and use the ‘Wales’ specific search facility.

For further information about the projects and to obtain contact details for the individuals and organisations involved, please contact the Big Lottery Fund press office on the numbers below.

Download a full list of projects funded today (Word document) 
- 35KB

Contact information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office – Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone:  0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.

Notes to Editors:

• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week 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 £20 billion has now been raised and more than 250,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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