Two city-based projects are celebrating news this morning that they have received a National Lottery cash boost. Multi-Cultural Family Base and Libertus are among nine projects sharing in £881,000 Community Fund cash.
Multi-Cultural Family Base receives £143,465. This group will use the funding to deliver the Bright Choices project which safeguards women, children, men and families from BAME communities who are at risk of or are experiencing coercive control, honour based violence or female genital mutilation.
The project will take a rights and choice based approach using a combination of home visits, one-to-one support, group work, and peer support/mentoring, working with over 200 people over three years.
There’s £125,888 for Gracemount-based Libertus Services, who will be now be able to expand their Positive Futures service currently delivered in South Central and South East of Edinburgh into the North West of the city.
The service provides a range of activity groups for over 50s facilitated by local volunteers which take place in community-based settings. The project will work with around 450 people and involve 40 volunteers over the next three years.
Further afield, Scotland’s only service which helps to re-unite siblings who have been separated in the care system is set to continue and expand its work thanks to a welcome National Lottery cash boost.
The Siblings Reunited (STAR) charity receives £60,000 to provide volunteer supervised contact for siblings separated through foster care, residential care, adoption or kinship care.
The project operates from a farm near Cupar and the children have access to an animal enclosure, a nearby beach and a wide range of creative outdoor activities, giving them lots of opportunities to play and spend quality time together.
Eileen Black, Trustee, STAR, said, “Every time we see the look on these young peoples’ faces, the joy and anticipation of meeting their siblings, who they may not have seen for weeks, months or even years, is a reminder why STAR is so important.
“What they get out of these visits is immeasurable and having regular, positive contact with their siblings can have a profound effect on their behaviour and emotional well-being.”
Lead Supervisor, STAR, Peter Melville, said, “In my role I get to witness first-hand the huge difference we make and thanks to National Lottery players we can continue to grow and reach out to more separated and estranged brothers and sisters throughout Scotland.”
In Lossiemouth, Friendly Access (SCIO) will expand their specialised programme of adaptive surf and swim group sessions for young people with hidden or physical disabilities after an award of £100,000.
The funding means the group will increase the number of locations they work in across Moray and Aberdeenshire.
Glyn Morris, Chief Executive, Friendly Access, said, “We are hugely delighted and indebted with the recognition received from The National Lottery Community Fund.
“We are very proud of our SurfABLE and SwimABLE Scotland projects and equally of our surf and swim athletes and volunteers who have supported and placed their trust in us.
“Based in North East Scotland and serving everyone regardless of disability or condition, we are Scotland’s only adaptive surf school which, as it happens, is also delivering the world’s most northerly surf therapy programme.
“I’m just so excited for the team and all involved as we now find ourselves in very privileged position and capable of reaching our full potential.”
Announcing the funding, Maureen McGinn, The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Chair, said: “Congratulations to the nine groups benefitting from £881,107 of National Lottery funding today. Among these are two projects providing the only services of their type available for children and young people in Scotland.
“One helps to re-unite siblings and offers a safe, supportive environment in which they can spend valuable time together. The other gives young people a chance to learn new skills and enjoy the exhilaration of being in the water. We are proud to be able to support work like this thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.”
Last year The National Lottery Community Fund gave out over £48m of National Lottery funding to community projects across Scotland. Over 1130 projects benefitted from this, enabling people and communities to bring their ideas to life.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
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