220803 Vulnerable children to benefit from latest Community Fund grants

Today’s grants, given to UK charities who work overseas, will help some of the most disadvantaged children and adults to tackle the causes of their poverty and build a better, brighter future, both in the UK and abroad.

An award of £113,855 to Leaves of Hope for Belarussian Children, based in Wales, is one case in point. The grant will improve the lives of disabled children in Belarus by helping to change the attitudes of those that care for them.

Margaret Bamford from Leaves of Hope explains: “With limited family support services, and without willing relatives, parents can feel there is no alternative to institutional care. They also often choose to send their disabled babies to an orphanage because of the stigma that still attaches to disability. The aim of this project is to demonstrate that there is another way to help parents right from the beginning.

“Through this grant, parents with a disabled baby will have immediate access to social workers based in the maternity ward and short-term foster respite care services. The social workers will provide practical and emotional support for the parents and provide links into self-help support groups and special programmes.”

Leaves of Hope has also formed a partnership with Llanrumney Youth Inclusion Project in Cardiff and young people from the area have already visited Belarus and worked to improve conditions at a centre for disabled children. Plans are currently underway to expand this work to involve youth projects in Birmingham and Bristol.

Other grants awarded today include: Allavida (£386,058), BDP (£136,723), Childhope UK (£479,653), International Institute for Environment and Development (£875,088), Just World Partners (£385,348), Mama Na Dada International (£172,041), Mercy Corps Scotland (£338,846), Prosthetic and Orthotic Worldwide Education Relief (£412,301), Widows and Orphans International (£199,908).