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Children in rural and urban Scotland to share in latest grants

Children and families in both rural and inner city areas of Scotland yesterday celebrated a share of £165,219 from the Communities and Families fund, an initiative supported by the Scottish Government and Big Lottery Fund.

A full list of projects to celebrate awards is available here

Based in Glasgow The Saturday Cafe run a successful ‘Cafe Juniors’ club for local children with disabilities. The youngsters who attend the club have a range of physical, cognitive and communication support needs and the award of £10,000 will allow the group to engage more support workers and offer more activities for the children to take part in.

Project Manager, Caroline Patterson, said: “Thanks to a second year of funding, we will be able to continue and extend ‘The Cafe Juniors’ project which provides a range of fun, exciting activities and equipment for our five to eight age group.  The Communities and Families Fund has enabled us to offer more places to disabled children in this age group and engage more staff and volunteers to ensure children who require one to on support can participate in all the activities and have fun in a safe and exciting environment. At the same time their parents and extended care groups will have a short break from care.”

At present there are no weekend play sessions for the families with children under 5 on the Isle of Bute but that’s all set to change after an award of £7,176 to Bute Tiddlers. Now the group will be able to run an additional Saturday session where families can take part in a wide range of activities from indoor soft play to art sessions.  Thanks to the funding the group will also be able to run a series of family yoga and healthy eating sessions.

Manager, Nicola Jones, said: “We are over the moon to be able to start offering family weekend play on Bute.  This will give Bute the chance to test the need for this type of play service here.  This opportunity will give us the time to look at the future of family play and how it looks and works for years to come so we can be sustainable and get it right for our community.”

An award of £9,507 means that Active Stirling will be able to expand their ‘Buggy Club’ project into new areas of Stirling.   The projects allows young mums to get together to engage in physical activity and make new friends

Health and Wellbeing Development Manager, Phil Coleman, said: “Receiving this funding from the Communities and Families Fund will allow us to build on the success of the recent Active Stirling Buggy Walking pilot project.  We will be able to expand our programme to many more areas across Stirling targeting communities where we feel the need is greatest.  Our pilot project showed the real benefits that mums were gaining from attending our walks, both from a physical and social aspect.  New friendships and strong support networks have developed as a result of offering a free community based physical activity opportunity that mums can participate in with their baby. The feedback so far has been fantastic and we are delighted to have the opportunity to impact on an even wider audience as a result of this funding.”

Announcing the awards Maureen McGinn, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund Scotland Committee, said:  “The Communities and Families Fund supports projects to give Scotland’s future generations a good start in life. I’m delighted to announce funding for today’s wide ranging initiatives which will develop children’s social skills and learning abilities, creativity and confidence. We’re keen to hear from other groups across the country which could also benefit from this funding. Full details of our simple application process can be found on our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland or why not call us on 0300 123 7100 to discuss your idea.’
 
Fiona McLeod, Acting Minister for Children and Young People, said: “I am heartened to hear about the range of projects that have secured funding through the Communities and Families Fund and the additional support this will provide for community led projects.  I share the ambition to make Scotland the best place to grow up and understand the huge impact local projects, such as these, can have on improving the lives of children and families in Scotland.”

The Communities and Families Fund has a budget of £4.5 million from The Scottish Government and £1.5 million from the Big Lottery Fund. Groups can apply for funding from £250 to £10,000. Find out more about the scheme and how to apply by visitingwww.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_communities_and_families_fund, or phoning 0300 1237110.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1415
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotlandGoes to different website

Notes to editors

  • The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes. 
  • Since June 2004 we have awarded over £6.5billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
  • Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £32 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

 

Channel website: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

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