WIREDGOV

A group of carers in Co Fermanagh are supporting each other and reducing loneliness thanks to National Lottery funding.

The Escapists, who meet every week in the Aisling centre in Enniskillen, have just been awarded a grant of £35,325 to cover activities for carers for the next three years.

This is part of today’s £1,637,072 boost from Big Lottery Fund to six groups across Northern Ireland through the People and Communities programme.

The Escapists’ Me Time project is designed by members and will support them to build friendships and confidence, reduce loneliness and gain coping mechanisms to improve their lives. There will also be a yearly overnight respite trip for carers.

It’s estimated there are more than 210,000 carers in Northern Ireland.* Clare McGovern (52), who for years struggled alone in rural Fermanagh, is one of those people. She cares for her son Kieran (20) who has ADHD and mobility problems and is one of the founders of the Escapists.

“I moved to Fermanagh as a lone parent with my two sons Conor (22) and Kieran in 1997. Kieran was born at 24 weeks and had a lot of complications and when we moved to Fermanagh he contracted meningitis and was very ill. He was left with ADHD and mobility problems and I became his full time carer,” she said.

“I am originally from Co Cavan and had been living in London so I did not know many people here and was very much alone, as my family were not close by.”

Clare was struggling and feeling overwhelmed around 2008 when she heard about a personal development course for carers organised by another group. There were 11 other carers on the eight week course - all women - most of whom didn’t know any other carers. The course was an emotional journey and the women all formed strong bonds.

“On the last week of the course we didn’t want it to end,” said Clare. “I found the support of the other women gave me great strength and we could talk and help each other. We all had our own stories but we also had so much in common.

“We decided to set up a group for carers, which would be run by carers, and I have grown so much since we formed the Escapists.

“This new funding will ensure that we can bring more carers on board and it will keep our group going until 2020. It means we can help more carers to build confidence in the wonderful skills, knowledge and experience they have as a basis to develop further.”

The other projects receiving funding from Big Lottery Fund today are Rainbow Child and Family Centre in Derry/Londonderry, Gortilea Social Farm in Co Derry/Londonderry, Carnlough Community Association in Co Antrim, Mid Ulster Volunteer Centre based in Magherafelt and Hearing Link based in Lisburn. See more information on these projects

Joanne McDowell, Big Lottery Fund NI Director, said: “I am delighted to announce these grants under the People and Communities programme and I want to say thanks to all the National Lottery players who have helped make this possible.

“We want to fund great projects that work with local people, build on a community’s strengths, and are well connected to other services and activities in the community. We are looking forward to seeing the positive impact these projects will make to people and communities across Northern Ireland.”

*Source: https://carers.org/country/carers-trust-northern-ireland

The People and Communities programme offers grants of between £30,000 and £500,000 for two to five year projects. More information can be found on our website, https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/northern-ireland/people-and-communities

For media enquiries, please contact Niamh Scullion or Rachel Skinner at the Big Lottery Fund Press Office. Direct line: 02890 551 450 
Out of hours media contact: 07554116595 or 07747532846 
Website: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/northernireland   
Twitter: @BIGNIonline 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundNI

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, £35 billion has been raised and more than 490,000 grants awarded.