MORE than seventy community groups across Edinburgh are shaking off the winter blues with the exciting news of their share of the latest round of National Lottery funding, announced today (Thursday 6th February).
Among the local projects celebrating this morning are Fresh Start, Living Rent, Granton Parish Church, Project Esperanza, LifeCare, Granton Youth and LIFT at Muirhouse Millennium Centre – who receive not one but TWO Lottery grants!
The Muirhouse centre recently launched an online fundraising campaign so today’s news of lottery success is a welcome boost.
LIFT receives £62,553 to continue delivery of their community support offering
within Muirhouse. Through support and advocacy LIFT aims to tackle child poverty, increase wellbeing for individuals and families, and allow them to move forward from poverty and crisis.
LIFT was awarded a further £23,187 to employ a staff member to work on and develop their ‘sharing shelf’. This is a space where members of the community can come, without a referral, to pick up some food essentials and acts as a link point to other services within the centre.
Hard-pressed community centres have done particularly well in this round of grants: as well as Muirhouse Millennium Centre there are big grants for Space at Broomhouse, Craigmillar’s Sandy’s Community Centre and Southside Community Centre.
This vital support will enable them to continue to bring together local people, deliver essential services, and provide much-needed support to their communities.
This latest round of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund is shared amongst 549 projects across Scotland. A full list of projects is attached.
Thanks to an award of £76,336, Craigmillar Literacy Trust will continue to deliver their programme of early and family literacy activities for families, parents and carers for the next two years.
Kara Whelan, Project Manager, Craigmillar Literacy Trust, said: “This funding will enable us to continue to deliver our literacy support programmes to families with babies and young children, specifically, early communication and family literacy through home visits and one-to-one support for individual families. ”
An award of £63,399 means that Living Rent will provide support and guidance around a range of housing issues affecting hundreds of people in Leith, Newhaven and Granton over the next three years.
Emma Saunder, National Organiser for Living Rent, said: “This will have a huge impact on our ability to continue to grow and empower our members.
“This award will support us to grow in the Leith area of Edinburgh, as well as building a thriving group in Granton. We can also continue our work, supporting members who are trapped in awful housing conditions through empowering them to know their rights and take action to receive compensation, repairs or stop evictions.
“The National Lottery funding is a continued source of strength and support for local communities helping us to support them to come together to ask for change.”
Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCiL) will expand their ‘Financial Wellbeing’ service for disabled people living in Edinburgh and the Lothians after an award of £25,000.
Florence Garabedian, Interim CEO, LCiL, said: “From our work, we clearly see the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the lives of disabled people, their families and carers.
“This funding will help us provide a targeted response to the current financial climate, help many more people who are struggling with day-to-day costs and offer accessible advice and information around welfare benefits, income maximisation and financial security.”
Announcing the funding, Kate Still, Scotland Chair, The National Lottery Community Fund said: “At The National Lottery Community Fund we are so proud to be able to support local groups to make a real and lasting difference and help address the challenges their communities face.
“It’s all made possible by National Lottery players and we’re excited to see the outcomes of all of the funded projects across Edinburgh in the months ahead.”
The National Lottery Community Fund distributes funding on behalf of National Lottery players who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
27
0
20
