- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- People and Places
- Release date:
- 11 5 2012
Community groups and organisations throughout Wales are joining the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) in celebration today as it smashes through the £100 million barrier of funding awarded from its People and Places programme to projects that make real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need.
A massive £5,655,857 has been awarded to 16 projects in Wales today under the latest round of People and Places, catapulting BIG beyond the £100 million barrier of money awarded through the programme which aims to bring people together to make communities stronger and to improve rural and urban environments (full list of awards at end of release).
Whether it’s projects to develop people’s skills and help them back into employment, funding to tackle racism, or support for people with disabilities and vulnerable people with a range of complex needs, nearly 520 grants have been awarded in Wales to a range of projects since the programme was launched in 2005.
Demonstrating the diverse nature of the programme, the projects awarded today include a specialist smoking cessation service for young smokers, a project to train and educate vulnerable homeless people and a support service for the families of children with severe and multiple disabilities.
In South East Wales, an award of nearly £490,000 (£487,743) will enable the Sparkle Appeal to run the Sparkle Family, Support & Play Project, which will provide a holistic support service to the families of children with severe and multiple disabilities, helping to meet their health, social and leisure needs across the counties of Newport, Monmouthshire and Torfaen. The project will ensure that children with complex disabilities can be better integrated into the community by improving their skills and helping them to enjoy play and activities with their siblings and other family members (case study available with this project).
Delighted with the funding and the difference it will make to families throughout South East Wales, Dr Sabine Maguire, Chairwoman of the Sparkle Appeal and the driving force behind the project, said: “Sparkle and the 1,200 families we work with each year are delighted with this generous grant from the Big Lottery Fund, which will enable us for the first time to provide services that our families desperately need including parental and sibling counselling, a play therapist, family liaison and funding towards an accessible outdoor children's play area - the first of its type in Gwent.”
“Without this vital funding, families would continue to come to our centre, but we would be limited as to the support and activities we could offer outside of treatment, not just to the child but to the parents, siblings and wider family.”
She added: “We know that there is much need for this project and we hope that the project far exceeds our expectations and enables the creation of a real and active community with a strong voice on all issues of child disability and a driver for long-term change.”
Two projects working in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan have also been awarded a slice of the funding under the latest round. With their award of £249,390, the Wallich Clifford Community will run the Streets Ahead – South East Wales project which will provide over 200 vulnerable homeless people in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan with the knowledge and life skills needed to access further learning, training, volunteering, work-experience and employment opportunities. This will improve their confidence, skills and increase their independence, self esteem and engagement within the community.
Highlighting the importance of the funding, Janine Hailey, Head of Learning at The Wallich, said: "Homelessness breeds a culture of hopelessness and the current economic situation makes it even harder for vulnerable people to have any chance to learn, develop and enter employment. Ourbeneficiaries are some of the most vulnerable within society, they feel isolated and stigmatised and generally find itdifficult to access mainstream service. Street's Ahead gives the beneficiaries the opportunity to realise their own potential and achieve their aspirations.”
“Without the Big Lottery Fund funding, changingand breaking the cycle of homelessness would prove so much moredifficult.”
In North Wales, the Prestatyn and Meliden Community Action Group will spend their award of nearly £270,000 (£269,145) on Project Eleven-Twenty-Five, which aims to provide targeted services to marginalised young people aged 11-25 in Prestatyn and the surrounding area. The project will be delivered from the existing BIG funded Pop In Centre in the town and will focus on providing training, placements and volunteering opportunities for young people including those not in education, employment or training and those from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities.
And an old village school in the small village of Moylegrove, Pembrokeshire is the centre of attention once again thanks to a grant of over £150,000 (153,439) which is making its way to the Cymdeithas Trewyddel/ Moylegrove Community group. The money will enable the group to repair and improve the former village school which closed in 2003 and is now used as a community centre and hub.
The cash will be spent on overhauling and modernising the facility by replacing the boiler and heating system, rewiring, replacing windows, improving plumbing and installing a disabled toilet, treating dry rot, repairing the roof and guttering, installing a new kitchen and new floor, providing disabled access and creating increased meeting room space for people to use.
Reflecting on the impact of the People and Places programme to date, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee Member and Chair of the People and Places Committee, Gareth Newton, said: “We are very proud of what this programme has achieved to date as we celebrate reaching this significant milestone. But it’s not about how much money we give out - it’s all about the positive difference the money we award is having on the lives of people and communities most in need throughout Wales. It’s programmes like People and Places which delivers on our promise to use National Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy.”
He added: “And the door is still wide open for applications. If an organisation or community group has an idea for a project to revitalise communities, improve community relationships or enhance local environments - we want to hear from them.”
The 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/wales
A full list of projects receiving funding today.
- 49KB
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office – Ben Payne: 02920 678 224
Out of hours contact: 07500 951 707
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywales
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwales
Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 0735
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
- In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £100k 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 £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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