WIREDGOV

A Scotland wide support service for children with Cerebral Palsy is amongst ten groups sharing in almost £5 million of Lottery funding announced yesterday (Thurs 18 June). 

Bobath Scotland receives £444,710 to support 125 young children with cerebral palsy between two and six years of age as they make the complex transition from nursery to school. The Right Start project, based in Glasgow, will use the funding to target families in Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeen and Lothian, providing them with the support of NHS Allied Health Practitioners and community based therapists.

Families, like Susan Love and her 7 year old son Lachlan from Alloa, will have access to a knowledge bank, an on-line diary project and online support in the form of webinars and Skype sessions. Susan, who has benefitted from the support of Bobath for five years welcomed the award saying: “I know making the transition from nursery to school is a period of real change and families really worry about it. Lachlan has complex issues and we’ve had an excellent experience moving him from nursery to mainstream school. Bobath have really helped with the process. The best thing about BoBath is the time and attention that is devoted to thinking about individual solutions for your child. I’m delighted that they have received this Lottery money to help many more families like ours.” 

Stephanie Fraser, Chief Executive, Bobath Scotland, added: "This is the best news we could have hoped for. Bobath Scotland Cerebral Palsy Therapy Centre seeks to help people from all over Scotland living with cerebral palsy at key stages in their lives. The grant towards the Right Start project allows us to develop services strategically for this vital transition stage and enables us to support families in areas other than just those within reach of our centre in Glasgow. We can't wait to get started!" 

Based in Glasgow, young people living with a disability between the age of 18 and 30 will also benefit from yesterday’s funding thanks to an award of £581,950 to Fair Deal. The project will help 200 young people develop life and employability skills through a horticultural and catering programme. The Brigidale Complex and The Hidden Gardens will support the project by providing a range of leisure, health and fitness based activities to encourage engagement and opportunities to broaden the interests of young people. 

Ann Marie Docherty, Chief Executive, Fair Deal, said: “We are absolutely delighted that our Big Lottery Fund application was successful. We aim to increase participants’ social interaction, promote community involvement, improve access to learning, training, volunteering, work placements/employment and support young people achieve accredited qualifications. At Fair Deal we see this funding as a game changer - we will work together in partnership with people with a learning disability to co produce and co-design their learning and outcomes.” 

Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said yesterday: “Today we are investing in a brighter future for families across Scotland. Both of these projects will work with vulnerable young people and their families to ensure they have a better quality of life. Young people will gain confidence and families will feel more supported in helping their children acquire the skills needed for a positive future.” 

Other projects sharing in £4,932,663 are: 

Creetown Initative Ltd 
Award: £730,457 
This group will convert a former pub in Creetown (the Barholm Arms) into a retail space for a co-operative of local arts and crafts producers, low rental workspaces for businesses, a laundrette, and a bunkhouse on the upper two floors. 

Eczema Outreach (Scotland) 
Award: £260,470 
This project will support children, young people and families affected by eczema. The group will do this through the provision of one to one support, a virtual club offering self management and an awards scheme. 

Fife Gingerbread 
Award: £492,126 
This project will support young parents and children with an early intervention approach by increasing skills in parenting as well as building on the abilities of the young families to cope and manage as parents.

Healthy Valleys 
Award: £455,268 
This group based in South Lanarkshire will support families with children under the age of five, with the aim of reducing the health related inequalities for up to 312 individuals across the lifetime of the grant. The families will be supported to attend anti and post natal appointments, and access to health related services. 

Life Care (Edinburgh) Ltd 
Award: £350,000 
This project will support older people aged over 60 in Edinburgh; in partnership with the Broomhouse Centre it will provide long-term one to one volunteer home visiting, social contact and support with day to day activities. The older people will lead the project and decide what they want to do and how frequently they want to do it. 

Momentum Scotland 
Award: £697, 110 
This project will offer a holistic and health focussed programme using specialist workers experienced in working with people with a disability or health condition, to help them to find work and appropriate training or education. 

Polish Family Support Centre 
Award: £228, 069 
This project will work with Polish children, young people and families providing tailored packages of support to combat disadvantage, social isolation and improve community cohesion for newly settled families. 

Saheliya 
Award: £692,503 
This group supports the well-being of Black and Minority Ethnic women in Scotland who are experiencing problems due to racism, Islamaphobia or other discrimination; abuse, exploitation, forced marriage, or FGM; torture, persecution, or trafficking. 

We are also announcing £92,371 of grants to 10 projects, across Scotland, from Big Lottery Fund Scotland’s Investing in Ideas programme. 

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1484 
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk 
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglottery 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland 

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 for good causes 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 £8 billion 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, £33 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.