210504 Family support

20 May 1921

Community Fund gives families the support they need to keep their children on the rails

Families are to benefit from £133,425 worth of awards made by the Community Fund in the North East today to St Cuthbert’s Care.

A pilot has shown that families linked to the programme are predominantly in a cycle of exclusion, experience the same barriers as their children and are equally hard to engage. The project is seen as the only one on the families’ side. Many families have already been ‘ostracised’ by their own community as ‘problem’ families. The whole family approach is intended to break this cycle.

Without this award, the group was facing the prospect of substantial cut backs to their work

Community Fund North East Regional Committee Chair, John Goddard, commented ‘The Regional Committee recognise the need for agencies that provide bread and butter support for families. It is generally a lot more difficult for groups to get funding for this type of work, but St Cuthbert’s Care has admirably demonstrated how they can make a difference to families.’

The project is based in Byker and serves Walker, Monkchester and Byker in Newcastle upon Tyne

St Cuthbert’s Care offer a range of care and support projects for adults with learning difficulties, older people, and children and families. This project will develop their family support service, which supports family members of children who are attending their Education programme. They will provide individual support, training and education opportunities, an informal drop-in and a home visiting service.

This funding will help the organisation develop the work of a one- year pilot project that supports family members of children referred to the organisation’s Urban Education Programme. These children are selected from among the worst performing pupils (behaviourally or academically) in the poorest wards of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The three year Community Fund grant will fully fund the cost of employing the existing part time family support worker, a new part time assistant support worker, and a new part time domestic/cleaner. The grant will also contribute to the running cost of the project.

For further information please contact Kathleen Urwin at St Cuthberts Care on 0191 228 0111.

Notes to editors:

Community Fund gives out money raised by the National Lottery to charities, voluntary and community groups. Out of every £1 spent on the National Lottery the Community Fund gets 4.7 pence.
Since 1995 Community Fund has awarded over 60,000 grants worth more than £2.7 billion to UK charities and voluntary groups.
The legal name of the Community Fund remains the National Lottery Charities Board. The National Lottery Charities Board was set up in 1994 and changed its operation name to Community Fund – Lottery money making a difference in April 2001.
A new organisation is currently being formed from the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund and will soon be distributing a major share of the good causes money raised through the National Lottery. This is an exciting opportunity for us to build on what both Funds have achieved so far and create an even more responsive and accessible organisation. The new distributor, The Big Lottery Fund, will be launched in June 2004. Current programmes, beneficiaries or applications will not be affected.
The New Opportunities Fund distributes National Lottery money to health, education and environment projects across the UK. We intend to support sustainable projects that will improve the quality of life of people throughout the UK, address the needs of those who are most disadvantaged in society, encourage community participation and complement relevant local and national strategies and programmes. (Funding for programmes is divided between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on the basis of population weighted to reflect levels of deprivation).

Media Enquiries: Tim Davies-Pugh, Regional Manager, Community Fund, tel: 0191 255 1121

	20 May 1921 Community Fund gives families the support they need to keep their children on the rails
	Families are to benefit from £133,425 worth of awards made by the Community Fund in the North East today to St Cuthbert’s Care. A pilot has shown that families linked to the programme are predominantly in a cycle of exclusion, experience the same barriers as their children and are equally hard to engage. The project is seen as the only one on the families’ side. Many families have already been ‘ostracised’ by their own community as ‘problem’ families. The whole family approach is intended to break this cycle. Without this award, the group was facing the prospect of substantial cut backs to their work Community Fund North East Regional Committee Chair, John Goddard, commented ‘The Regional Committee recognise the need for agencies that provide bread and butter support for families. It is generally a lot more difficult for groups to get funding for this type of work, but St Cuthbert’s Care has admirably demonstrated how they can make a difference to families.’ The project is based in Byker and serves Walker, Monkchester and Byker in Newcastle upon Tyne St Cuthbert’s Care offer a range of care and support projects for adults with learning difficulties, older people, and children and families. This project will develop their family support service, which supports family members of children who are attending their Education programme. They will provide individual support, training and education opportunities, an informal drop-in and a home visiting service. This funding will help the organisation develop the work of a one- year pilot project that supports family members of children referred to the organisation’s Urban Education Programme. These children are selected from among the worst performing pupils (behaviourally or academically) in the poorest wards of Newcastle upon Tyne. The three year Community Fund grant will fully fund the cost of employing the existing part time family support worker, a new part time assistant support worker, and a new part time domestic/cleaner. The grant will also contribute to the running cost of the project. For further information please contact Kathleen Urwin at St Cuthberts Care on 0191 228 0111. Notes to editors: Community Fund gives out money raised by the National Lottery to charities, voluntary and community groups. Out of every £1 spent on the National Lottery the Community Fund gets 4.7 pence. Since 1995 Community Fund has awarded over 60,000 grants worth more than £2.7 billion to UK charities and voluntary groups. The legal name of the Community Fund remains the National Lottery Charities Board. The National Lottery Charities Board was set up in 1994 and changed its operation name to Community Fund – Lottery money making a difference in April 2001. A new organisation is currently being formed from the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund and will soon be distributing a major share of the good causes money raised through the National Lottery. This is an exciting opportunity for us to build on what both Funds have achieved so far and create an even more responsive and accessible organisation. The new distributor, The Big Lottery Fund, will be launched in June 2004. Current programmes, beneficiaries or applications will not be affected. The New Opportunities Fund distributes National Lottery money to health, education and environment projects across the UK. We intend to support sustainable projects that will improve the quality of life of people throughout the UK, address the needs of those who are most disadvantaged in society, encourage community participation and complement relevant local and national strategies and programmes. (Funding for programmes is divided between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on the basis of population weighted to reflect levels of deprivation).		Media Enquiries: Tim Davies-Pugh, Regional Manager, Community Fund, tel: 0191 255 1121