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Lottery support for projects to help transform young people into professionals

Today the Big Lottery Fund is supporting projects including those working with young people to help develop their skills and build brighter futures. Over 902 community groups across England are sharing in more than £32 million of funding.

The Agency, a partnership between Battersea Arts Centre and Contact in conjunction with People’s Palace Projects, receives £397,572 to support young people in London and Manchester to transform ideas for making change in their own communities into real projects and social enterprises. The Agency helps young people to develop the skills and confidence needed to become more employable and entrepreneurial. 
 
The Agency is based on a successful model founded in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro that uses creativity as a tool to equip young people with the language and emotional intelligence to articulate and develop their ideas.

Liz Moreton, Senior Producer at Battersea Arts Centre said: “Through The Agency we’ve seen young people find an extraordinary inner-strength and confidence in themselves and their ideas, demonstrating what happens when we value and take young people seriously. It has been a privilege to support young people to develop the tools and resilience they need to get their ideas off the ground.

“We believe that young people play a crucial role in transforming and changing the communities and cities in which we live. The Agency enables young people to become leaders – an incredibly powerful thing for young people to experience who never been in that position before.”

Osmond Gordon Vernon Case Study

Osmond was 14 when he applied to The Agency and despite being slightly too young for the programme the strength of his idea and sheer enthusiasm won the interview panel over. Through The Agency he developed a board game called Life Is What U Make It, based on Winstanley Estate where he lives. The game allows people to ‘play out’ the different moral and monitory decisions young people have to make each day growing up on his estate and touches on subjects including the pitfalls of gang life. It is based on Osmond’s real-life experiences. 
 
Life Is What U Make It has been tested by professional gamers and workshops at Harris Academy (Battersea), Providence House Girls Group and Future Skills Pupil Referral Unit, engaging local young people to refine its content. Osmond presented his project to a large group of students at Chelsea School of Art and Design where he interviewed illustrator Matt Ferguson who was chosen to help design the board.

Through additional funding from Children in Need Osmond is now working with a professional game developer, an education consultant and facilitator to turn the game into a Citizenship resource in local schools before being rolled out to schools across the UK.

Quote from Osmond’s Mum – Osmonette

“The Agency has made it possible for my son to enjoy an opportunity most young people do not get these days. With the assistance of the Agency, Osmond is taking his project to schools all across Wandsworth and now to Rio as well. The Agency has helped my son make the right decision in how to conduct his life. And I’m forever grateful.”

Suzie Henderson, Head of Creative Development at Contact said: "The project shows the incredible value that art and creativity have on transforming young lives, well beyond the normal reach of the arts. It has been so exciting to see the young people who have participated in The Agency flourish in their skills and confidence and we can't wait to start recruiting new groups of young people."

A new project has received £97,696 to provide a specialised counselling service for those bereaved by homicide in East London, Romford and the North East of England. Through Unity will support the beneficiaries to rebuild their lives, reduce isolation and offer coping methods to deal with the practical aftermath of homicide. These three areas have been chosen as there are no current specialist homicide bereavement services.

Today’s awards also include an England-wide project helping to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Young Minds Trust receives £495,651 to continue and expand the existing Parents Helpline. This service provides free, confidential telephone, email and online support, information and advice, to any adult worried or distressed about the emotional problems, behaviour or mental health of a young person up to the age of 25.

Lyn Cole, Big Lottery Fund, England Grant-making Director said: “There is a great mix of projects being funded across the region that are working hard to make a difference to the lives of people in their local communities. The Big Lottery Fund is proud to support those who are taking a lead in making these positive changes.”
 
Today’s awards have been made through the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All and Reaching Communities programmes awarding National Lottery funding to communities and people most in need in England. Awards for All provides grants between £300 and £10,000 to voluntary and community organisations and Reaching Communities awards larger grants of £10,000 and above.                                                                                                                                  

A full list of awards made across England is available here.

Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
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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, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.
  • Awards for All small grants programme makes lottery awards between £300 and £10,000 for a wide range of community projects aimed at developing skills, improving health, revitalizing the local environment and enabling people to become more active citizens. 
  • Reaching Communities large grants programme makes lottery awards between 10,000 and £500,000
  • to support people and communities most in need to give people better life chances, develop stronger communities, improve rural and urban environments and promote healthier more active people and communities.

 

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

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