Communities in need across Wales receive over £2 million of Lottery funding

12 Jun 2015 12:55 PM

Projects providing support to families in deprived communities, opportunities for children with mental health conditions, and support for cancer patients are among those across Wales that have been awarded funding from the Big Lottery Fund.

As part of the latest announcements from the People and Places programme, a total of £2,200,546 will be shared between 10 projects.

A full list of grants is available here

In Swansea, Barnardo’s are awarded £498,639 to deliver their “Breaking the Cycle” programme that will engage with workless households and their communities to address the poverty that affects them across generations. The project will include support to allow people to learn new skills, and to help them develop coping strategies that will help them respond differently to poverty.

Speaking in receipt of the grant, Child Services Manager at Swansea Children Matter (Barnardos), Kelly Ahern said: “We are delighted with the news of our award through the People and Places programme. “Breaking the Cycle” will work with the hardest to reach families across Penderry, workless households with multiple and complex needs who sit outside of statutory services and who may be reluctant to engage. These families may have had historical contact with social services, they may have rebounded between early intervention and statutory service but never gained the resilience necessary to make sustained changes and manage their lives in a better way.

“We will work with them to identify the strengths and needs of the whole household, identifying barriers they may face and develop a family pathway plan to meet their needs. We will support them to develop the resilience and coping strategies, breaking the cycle of inter-generational issues so that every household member can reconnect with their aspirations and reach their full potential.

“We will be able to ensure families have direct access to these services when they need them without having to face lengthy waiting lists and we will be able to provide childcare to ensure parents can access such services.”

In Wrexham, Your Space Ltd receive £179,407 to run activities for children and young people that are on the autistic spectrum to attend during all school holidays, as well as to establish a multi-sensory room. Activities will be adapted to suit requirements of individuals to ensure that everyone receives maximum enjoyment and potential from them.

In receipt of the grant, Project Coordinator at Your Space, Rachel Hancocks said: “On behalf of everyone at Your Space, I would like to say a massive thank you for granting the award to us to run the Holiday activities programme and equip our multi sensory room.

“The difference this will make to our relatively small organisation is vast and I am in no doubt that this grant will enable us to grow and expand in order to help facilitate the needs of families who have a son or daughter who is on the autistic spectrum.
 
“We are constantly asked if we are able to run more activities (especially during school holidays) and this will take a huge amount of pressure off the families in what can only be described as a very stressful period.
 
“Our holiday activities programme will be structured in a way that the children and young people will feel supported as an individual, encouraging and enabling their participation and enjoyment throughout their time at Your Space.”

In Pembrokeshire, Pembrokeshire College receive £249,206 to provide lifelong learning opportunities for people throughout Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. Courses will be delivered at reduced rates and across local venues so that as many people as possible will have access to the opportunities available to them.

Janet Davies, Community and Welfare to Work Manager at Pembrokeshire College said: “Pembrokeshire College is delighted to be awarded funding from the Big Lottery Fund to bring learning opportunities to adults across communities in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.   The funding will allow us to respond to the needs of communities large and small and offer courses in a range of community-based venues, including village halls. 

“We will be working with voluntary organisations to engage with communities, groups and individuals to find out what and where people want to learn. Support will be available to develop personal skills, creative skills and to improve employability and progress into work, or maybe to take a voluntary role within local areas or organisations.” 

Elsewhere in Machynlleth, Community Action Machynlleth and District are awarded £71,916 to expand a drop-in facility for people experiencing mental health issues, and will enable them to benefit from a support network as well as therapy through activities.

Pathways Coordinator Jeremy Richardson, in receiving the grant, said: “We’re so grateful for the Big Lottery grant!  With it we can expand and develop our Pathways Drop-In service for people suffering with mental health issues across the Dyfi Valley. We can offer more time, more choice, more opportunities for social interaction and fun for people. The funding helps us be a consistent and reliable presence for people in the area.”
 
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

• 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 £6.5 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.