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| HOMEPAGEABOUT USNEWS |
5 December 2003
Over £2.5 million of Lottery cash awarded in latest round of strategic grants
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The Community Fund has today awarded a further £2.5 million to an array of voluntary organisations who help the most disadvantaged people in society.
These 13 organisations have been awarded grants through the Community Fund’s Strategic Grants Programme, a programme that has awarded over 1,300 grants worth more than £258 million since it was launched in November 2002.
Diana Brittain, Chair of the Community Fund said: “All of the recipients who have received funding today are organisations who will make a significant difference to the lives of many people in our society. The Strategic Grants Programme aims to award funding for projects that help tackle severe, long-term and multiple needs of disadvantaged people in the community.” The Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) have been awarded £196,940 which will enable the charity to expand support to children born with cleft lip and palate, and their families. CLAPA will be able to introduce an educational publicity programme during 2004; appoint a national volunteer coordinator; train volunteers and assign guidelines to ensure consistent service delivery. In return this grant will allow CLAPA to provide a better service to families through a new professional infrastructure. Gareth Davies, Chief Executive of CLAPA said: “There are 1,000 children a year born with a cleft. This grant means that we can improve our support to those babies and families, and reassure them that treatment in this country is effective and of a very high standard.” “We do not consider a cleft to be a major disability. We believe that if the general public had a greater knowledge of the condition the option of termination might not be considered.” Part of CLAPA’s mission is to tackle the lack of understanding about cleft lip and palate, how it is treated, and how it affects people. The Joshua Foundation (TJF), awarded £35,982, provides holidays and experiences for children who have been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and their families. The difference between TFG and other one-off wish giving organisations is that TFG provide on-going memories and experiences for both the child and the family. Sarah Cornelius, Chief Executive of The Joshua Foundation said: "The Lottery funding represents a huge opportunity for us to consolidate our work with children who have terminal cancer with the appointment of new staff. To date we have assisted over 150 terminally ill children and their families and this money will mean that even more will benefit, making 2004 the best year ever." Other groups to received funding today under the Strategic Grants Programme include: Arthritis Care £415,696, CHANGE £59,969, Chinese Mental Health Association £332,956, First Step Trust £185,646, Hi8us Projects £217,000, High/Scope UK £321,622, Law Centres Federation £279,405, National Information Forum £124,776, NCVO £259,000, Sustain: The Alliance For Better Food & Farming £30,000, The Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Trust £57,129. Notes for editors:
1. 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. 2. Since 1995 Community Fund has awarded over 58,000 grants worth more than £2.6 billion to UK charities and voluntary groups. 3. The Strategic Grants Programme make grants to voluntary organisations working for the benefit of people living in either: the UK as a whole, more than one UK country, England as a whole or three English regions or more. 4. 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. 5. Next year the Community Fund is to merge with the New Opportunities Fund in advance of creating a new National Lottery distributor that will administer 50 per cent of all good cause funding. The merger will not affect current programmes, beneficiaries or applications. Further details on the new lottery distributor are expected to be available in Spring 2004. 6. 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). | For media enquiries, please contact the Community Fund press office on 020 7747 5380.
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