Lottery communities funding boost for South West
A project supporting male victims of domestic abuse run by a charity in Truro and an initiative working with female survivors of trafficking in Bristol, are among those in the South West celebrating a share of £1,587,962 in grants from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme today.
The announcement comes as the Big Lottery Fund celebrates its tenth birthday and the Reaching Communities programme’s awards to help people and communities most in need, reach a £1 billion milestone.
Cornwall Women’s Refuge Trust (CWRT), in Truro has been awarded £421,906 for their project which will provide support for male victims of domestic abuse and violence across the South West. The charity will expand their existing project to include the provision of a refuge for male victims of domestic abuse, in the same way that it currently supports female victims.
The new refuge will mean residents can receive more intensive support and that peer support can be provided. The project will also offer vital services to male victims of domestic abuse including counselling, emotional and practical support, safety planning, ‘The Recovery Toolkit’ – a 12-week group course, outreach, advice, advocacy and training. The service will be extended into the wider community using specifically trained volunteers to assist in the delivery of both counselling and support.
Rene Chorley, Cornwall Women’s Refuge Trust Manager, said: “CWRT is so honoured to have received this funding. We have worked with male victims of domestic abuse for five years and our aim has always been to have equal services for all victims regardless of gender. Our closest male refuge is in North Somerset so it is really good news we are able to bring this project to Cornwall.”
Also in the South West today, Unseen (UK) in Bristol receives £225,337 to continue to provide intensive holistic support to female survivors of trafficking to help them to rebuild their lives. The project aims to address the complex needs of survivors as they look to move forward and build a brighter future. The project will provide practical and emotional support, as well as training, to empower survivors to make choices, set goals, and take steps to improve their life chances.
Statutory provision of first response services such as shelter, food and legal services is provided via the Unseen safe-house. However, there is no statutory provision to address the complex needs of survivors as they look to move forward and transition to a new life. This project aims to fill this gap, empowering survivors to make choices, set goals, and take steps to improve their life chances.
Support workers will work with survivors on a daily basis to enable them to adapt to their new circumstances, for example by accompanying them to a doctor or police appointment. The project will also run weekly sessions on issues such as sexual health and safe relationships. Night staff will run relaxation and therapeutic sessions to help service users to learn coping mechanisms to deal with issues such suicidal thoughts, self harm and night terrors and provide emotional support.
A resettlement worker will also support survivors of trafficking with their move-on options so they are empowered to decide where they want to live in the long-term.
In Exeter, Living Options Devon a charity led and run by disabled people, is awarded a grant of £426,503 to support disabled people in the area affected by welfare reforms.
The project will tackle the financial difficulties many disabled people are facing because of welfare reform by providing easier access to advice and information on benefits and budgeting through the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). The initiative will focus on building on the services CAB provides through training and support aimed at helping beneficiaries increase self-confidence and improve their IT, financial management and employability skills.
Living Options Devon will work in partnership with CAB and Devon Welfare Rights Unit to provide a tailored information and advice and benefits check service to around 1,500 disabled and deaf people across Devon. A team of disabled people and deaf people will be invited to volunteer in the project and be trained to provide peer support.
The initiative aims to reduce isolation and empower disabled people to make informed choices about their benefits and to cope with welfare changes beyond the life of the project.
Trauma Recovery Centre in Bath, Somerset is awarded a grant of £195,099 to expand their existing project which facilitates the creative, fun and purposeful recovery of children and young people facing trauma, challenge and crisis. The project will provide creative, play and art therapy, and also counselling to children and their parents or carers in Bath, Bristol, Swindon and West Wiltshire areas.
Recently there has been a tripling of referrals to the centre and there is now a waiting list for support. The expansion of the project will help to meet demand and will provide free individual play or art therapy sessions to around 150 children and young people on a weekly basis.
The service provided will be tailored to the needs of the child and will allow children the time needed to recover and assimilate and adapt the coping tools they have learnt into their everyday lives and situations. This enables them to develop a strong and stable sense of self worth that will give them better chances of sustained long term recovery.
Free parenting groups, run by a trained professional, will be held at the same time as children’s therapy sessions to promote positive life skills and to increase confidence. Where parents or carers show signs of unprocessed trauma or high levels of anxiety, free adult counselling will be provided on a weekly basis whilst their children attend therapy sessions.
The communities where beneficiaries live will also benefit as the improved mental health of children and young people can help reduce anti-social behaviour, decrease violence, reduce substance misuse and improve engagement with education.
East Devon Volunteer Support Agency in Honiton, will use their grant of £319,117 to increase training and employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities and mental and physical health problems in the local area. The project will involve building micro social enterprises focused on growing and selling food, enabling beneficiaries to improve their health and wellbeing while developing transferable skills to enhance their future prospects.
East Devon Volunteer Support Agency (EDVSA) will refurbish an existing building owned by their partner Bicton College which will also provide land, greenhouses and a walled garden for beneficiaries to use. By involving participants in building micro social enterprises, enabling people to develop practical business skills, improve their social interaction, reduce isolation and become more active. Activities will be decided by participants themselves and may include; growing food that can be sold to Bicton College or via market stalls, growing plants, setting up a gardening task force to help people in the community and developing their own market stalls.
The activity programme will enable people to progress into formal training through the college or paid employment, either within the project or the wider community.
Volunteer buddies will be recruited from ex-beneficiaries, students and the surrounding community to support the less able to participate whilst also gaining confidence and skills of their own, empowering them to take on new learning or employment opportunities.
This month’s Reaching Communities announcement coincides with the Big Lottery Fund celebrating its tenth birthday this month (June). Since the Big Lottery Fund was formed in 2004 it has awarded close to £6 billion to community groups and projects.
Over the past decade, organisations from across the UK have been creatively using National Lottery good cause funding to make a real difference to community groups and projects by using their local and specialist knowledge.
Dharmendra Kanani, Big Lottery Fund England Director, said: “Local community organisations have been creatively using grants from the Big Lottery Fund for ten years now to make a real difference to communities and people most in need. Through Reaching Communities, which awards grants over £10,000 we have now awarded over £1 billion to great projects across England.
“Today’s awards show how communities are coming together to make often small but significant differences to individual lives. This ranges from support for male victims of domestic abuse, to support for disabled people impacted by welfare reform in the South West this month. We are looking forward to seeing how local communities continue to use Lottery good cause funding over the next ten years.”
The Big Lottery Fund would like to hear your views on how Lottery funding could make a difference in your communities. Get involved in Your Voice Our Vision at http://yourvoiceourvision.org.uk/ until July 2014.
