WIREDGOV

A local community group in inner-city London helping unemployed young people to get the skills and confidence to find work is one of 208 grants to London organisations announced yesterday under the Big Lottery Fund’s small grants scheme, Awards for All. The awards total £1.9 million.

Danny Barnes has overcome major obstacles in his life and wants to help others do so too. In 2012, while unemployed, Danny Barnes set up a community project in Westminster calledAcknowledging Youths.

Acknowledging Youths was founded to raise the aspirations of young people in inner London who were unemployed and lacked both skills and opportunities to find work. It aims to make a positive contribution to the lives of these young people by increasing their self-esteem and confidence, giving them new skills and ultimately helping them become more employable.

At first Acknowledging Youths struggled to find funding, but now their persistence has paid off with a Lottery award of £10,000.

The group will use the funding for business plan development to provide a retail outlet and music recording studio to be used as a social enterprise for the community. This will develop the capacity of the organisation to enable positive community and volunteering experiences for disadvantaged young people who are struggling to find work.

Danny Barnes says: “When a young person comes to us, they might not be ready to go into a job, so we ask them what they want to achieve, work out we can do for them and then help them to reach their goals.”

Also awarded Lottery funding yesterday was the Eastcote Primary School in Bexley. They will use their grant of £10,000 to pay for an outdoor learning and wildlife area for extracurricular activities. Bringing the countryside into the suburbs, this project will allow pupils to learn about wildlife conservation and ecology.

Another group benefitting yesterday is Greenwich Service Plus, receiving £10,000. The project is aimed at the parents of children who are eligible for free school meals but do not take them up. The group, which works in the most deprived parts of the Borough, will offer taster sessions to the parents and encourage them to cook at home. The idea is that by learning more about nutrition, parents will encourage their children to eat more healthily and reduce the risk of obesity.

A full list of all of the Awards for All grants made across London yesterday is available here.

Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
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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, £32 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.