£3.8 million to help Welsh communities most in need
20 Feb 2015 02:33 PM
Projects that provide outreach and wellbeing activities, mental health support, and upskilling activities for disadvantaged young people are among those sharing over £3.8 million from the Big Lottery Fund.
11 projects across Wales are sharing £3,858,152 awarded through the Big Lottery Fund’s People and Places programme.
A full list of projects is available here
YMCA Swansea receives £239,923 to support disadvantaged young people in Swansea. This will include creating community and social networks, activities to improve self-esteem, employment prospects, volunteering opportunities, and provision towards healthy living advice.
CEO of YMCA Swansea, Anne-Marie Rogan, said, "We are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has awarded us a grant to support vulnerable young people in Swansea. The Project is the direct result of our experience of working closely with disadvantaged young people and is designed to ensure young people can get help when they need it the most, working together to create better lives for themselves and others.”
“The project, based at YMCA Swansea, will be supported by a skilled and committed team of Youth Workers, however it will be run by young people for young people. The project will impact the lives of over 350 young people in the city. This kind of funding is vital to the continuation of our youth programmes and the life changing support we offer in our community."
Newydd Housing Association in Cardiff will use £238,888 to deliver their HAPI project (Healthy, Aspiring, Prosperous and Inclusive) that will provide a non-clinical service to individuals through one-to-one support, workshops and intervention activities to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
Paul Roberts, Chief Executive of Newydd said, “In parts of Rhondda Cynon Taf life expectancy is lower than the Welsh average and the effects of poor health on our most deprived communities is considerable. We want to support individuals and their families to improve their overall health and wellbeing.”
“We are overjoyed that the Big Lottery Fund has invested in the HAPI project and we look forward to the coming months where we will be recruiting staff and setting up this vital project.”
In Neath Port Talbot, HAFAL receives £489,958 to deliver their “Out of the Blue” project. The project will engage with low level offenders in the South Wales Police authority area by delivering a six-week course that will help them break the cycle of offending and achieve a level of recovery that lets them make positive contributions to their communities.
Hafal's Chief Executive Alun Thomas said: "We are delighted to receive funding for this important project which will tackle head-on the issues facing offenders with a mental illness.”
"Research suggests that a significant number of offenders carrying out their sentence in the community have mental health problems. "Out of the Blue" will give them the support and tools they need to break out of the cycle of reoffending, achieve recovery and make a positive contribution to their communities."
Elsewhere, in Ceredigion, HUTS (Help Us to Survive) will use £402,946 to deliver befriending activities across Ceredigion, and outreach activities across Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire that will help improve health, wellbeing, social development and confidence for people who experience mental health difficulties.
HUTS Manager, Sally Chorley, said, “The grant enables HUTS to introduce new Befriending and Outreach services and to sustain our existing services. Befriending will help to improve health, wellbeing, social development, confidence and becoming part of the community.”
“Befriending is reliant on recruiting volunteers within the local communities, who can offer a few hours a week to support individuals in their homes. This could be from a walk along the beach, trip to a café, local groups and much more.”
“Our Outreach services will now have an ambassador to promote the awareness of mental health and reduce the stigma associated with it, raise public awareness in schools, local organisations and businesses, work in conjunction with GP’s and the community mental health teams, and provide further help for existing members. A big thank you from all at HUTS to the BIG Lottery Fund for awarding this grant for our new project.”
Highlighting the importance of the People and Places programme, Rona Aldrich, Wales Committee Member for the Big Lottery Fund, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales.
“It delivers on our promise to use National Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy.”
The People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects. For further information about the programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/wales
Further Information
Alexander Davies - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 029 2067 8236
Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 0735
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at:www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywales
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwales
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.