Big Lottery Fund
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Changing Faces and attitudes with support of Lottery grant
A project working to change people’s attitudes to facial and body disfigurement will be able to help hundreds of young people across Scotland, thanks to a £350,140 grant announced today.
With its Big Lottery Fund grant, Edinburgh based Changing Faces will run a new awareness campaign throughout schools in Scotland to change attitudes towards children and young people with disfigurements. A Faces Equality Advisor will work in schools to identify and address any issues young people are facing.
Monica Duddy, 23, is a member of the charity’s youth group Faces of Scottish Youth and has a large birthmark on her cheek. She said, “When I was younger, a Face Equality Adviser would have been able to guide my teachers on how to make my school inclusive for children like me who were living with a facial disfigurement. I am delighted that that this new role will offer teachers the necessary skills and techniques to develop an educational environment for children with a visible difference to thrive.”
As well as its awareness campaign, Changing Faces will be able to expand their work to benefit more people in Edinburgh and also extend this to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. The group will now be able to provide a range of one to one support to raise the self esteem and emotional well being of the young people while also working closely with their families and carers.
James Partridge, Chief Executive and Founder of Changing Faces, said, “We are absolutely delighted to receive such a huge vote of confidence from the Big Lottery Fund. This award will enable Changing Faces to take forward its pioneering plans to promote the self confidence and self esteem of children and young people throughout Scotland who have unusual looking faces, hands or bodies.
“As we set up our new centre in Scotland, from which the project will evolve, we will be working closely with health service staff to ensure that anyone whose appearance is “different” for any reason gets the support and empowerment they need. We will support their families too and help their peers understand the issues they are facing so they can be fully included in school and college life.”
Announcing today’s funding, Big Lottery Fund, Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “Our Investing in Communities programme aims to bring real and lasting improvements to people and communities most in need. Changing Faces helps those people with a facial or body disfigurement to lead full, confident and satisfying lives. This unique project will give a range of practical and emotional support to up to 1500 young people in Glasgow, Edinburgh and throughout Scotland, ensuring they feel less isolated and are seen and recognised, for their personalities and talents irrespective of their appearance. This is a great example of a project making a positive and lasting difference to people’s lives and one which we are proud to support.”
Changing Faces is one of 11 projects across Scotland today sharing in a total of £6,720,034 from Big Lottery Fund Scotland’s Investing in Communities programme.
Other projects receiving funding from Investing in Communities today are:-
|
Organisation |
Award |
Project summary |
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Kibble Education and Care Centre |
£678,435 |
This project in Renfrewshire will provide employment to150 young people aged 16-24 over three years. They will have access to a six month full time paid work placement in the organisations' new social enterprise, the Experience. |
|
Family Mediation South Lanarkshire |
£248,297 |
This project will support children and families experiencing the trauma of family change, in particular parental separation and divorce. It will work with families from Burnbank and East Kilbride Child Contact Centres. |
|
West Fife Enterprise Limited |
£900,000 |
This project will provide training and work experience placements for people in the former coalfield communities of west Fife. It will provide work placements in administration, workshops and IT, and placements with local employers. Through partnership with Fife College it will also offer vocational qualifications. |
|
Glasgow Wood Recycling Project |
£426,509 |
The organisation will employ a further three people and will work with around 150 volunteers over three years on a more structured training programme with half moving on to employment or further training. |
|
Edinburgh Young Carers Project |
£712,000 |
This project will expand and develop support services for young carers. A range of services will be delivered including weekly group sessions, structured play, intensive one to one support and residential breaks. |
|
Forgewood Housing Co-operative Limited |
£1,085,000 |
This group in Motherwell will demolish the existing Forgewood Community Centre and build a new, double storey centre in its place. The aim of the centre is to provide a sustainable, quality facility for the 2,747 residents. |
|
Relationships Scotland - Family Mediation Highland |
£315,304 |
This project will establish three child contact centres in Inverness, Thurso and Fort William. This will help to encourage continuing meaningful relationships between children and non-parents/carers as well as wider family members. |
|
Avenue Confidential |
£281,410 |
This project will enhance services within existing child contact centres across Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray. New family support workers will provide an improved service at the beginning of the interventions with the family and will work to establish and maintain contact, reduce conflict and improve family relationships with a contact plan. |
|
Streetwork UK |
£742,903 |
The group will work to support vulnerable young people in Edinburgh. The project will deliver an outreach service to young people not receiving support from any other youth services. |
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Turning Point Scotland |
£742,903 |
The project will work with people in Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire who are experiencing homelessness and who have an active substance misuse and/or mental health problem. |
Also today the Big Lottery Fund is announcing £264,680 to 28 groups across Scotland from its Investing in Communities programme.
A full list of grants to be awarded is available here
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1415
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland 
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Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland
Notes to editors
- The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery.
- The Fund 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 its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
- In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was awarded to projects. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.
