Tag: get2gether

Edinburgh disability groups amongst those to benefit from £610K Lottery cash boost

A service supporting autistic adults to set up their own micro-enterprises, a project helping people with disabilities to find love and friendship and a family support project for those living with down’s syndrome are amongst 23 groups in the capital today sharing in £610,119 from The National Lottery Community Fund.

An Edinburgh business mentoring service supporting autistic adults to set up their own micro-enterprises today receives £9,500, IWORK4ME will deliver its service Scotland-wide via face to face and online meetings.

Artist Ruth Mutch trades as Penguin Parade.  She continues to grow her business having increased her range of merchandise from just a few items to over 200. 

Ruth, who is supported by her mother and IWORK4ME, said: “Trying out self-employment and running a micro business with the support of IWORK4ME and my mum has really given me a purpose in life and helped my mental wellbeing and self-esteem. 

“I now feel I have achieved something and am successful whereas before I felt a failure.”

Sue Hope, Development Manager, IWORK4ME, added: “We are delighted with this National Lottery award.

IWORK4ME is a small charity which promotes self-employment as a beneficial career solution for autistic people like Ruth across Scotland.  This funding ensures that we can continue our Business Mentoring service on Zoom and promote the service on social media to a wider audience.”

get2gether supports adults with disabilities to lead their own lives whist finding love and friendship.

Over the next three years, with an award of £150,000, they will provide a range of activities from party nights to exercise classes that reduce isolation and help people realise their full potential.

Marion Smith, Project Manager, get2gether, said: “A huge thanks to the National Lottery for continuing to support us.  get2gether supports adults with disabilities to lead independent, self -determined adult lives. 

“Thanks to National Lottery players, we’ll be able to continue bringing members together through a wide range of activities.”

Based in Edinburgh, but supporting families across the country, Down’s Syndrome Scotland receives £197,214 to deliver essential information, advice and support through a new extended helpline, a live chat facility and other online platforms.

Chief Executive, Eddie McConnell, said: “We are so grateful to have received this funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. It will allow us to continue to provide vital support for people with Down’s syndrome and their families across Scotland.

“Our Family Support team offer specialist support and information to families on a variety of topics via our helpline as well through video sessions.”  

Families with disabled children are to benefit from an award of £9796 to Firsthand Lothian for a programme of one to one and early intervention support.

Bev Read, Director, Firsthand Lothian, said: “This National Lottery funding enables us to provide much needed support for families across the city of Edinburgh who have children with disabilities or are disadvantaged.

“Through our direct 1:1 work with children, engaging them in stimulating activities that both aids their development and are fun, we will help children and families become more resilient.  Thank you so much to National Lottery players for making this award possible.”

Across Scotland, 184 community projects are today sharing in £4,435,695.  

Announcing the funding, The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “It’s great to see these community projects being funded in Edinburgh to help people as they recover from the pandemic. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing how these projects improve communities and the lives of local as people as they start to come together again to re-build and re-connect.

“National Lottery players can be proud to know that the money they raDOgetise is making such a difference to people’s lives.”

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Thanks to National Lottery players, last year we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK. 

Over eight in ten (83%) of our grants are for under £10,000 – going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are bringing to life amazing ideas that matter to their communities. 

National Lottery funding gets lives back on track

£4 million funding boost for 29 Scottish groups

Four Edinburgh projects were among 29 groups to receive a share of £4 million Lottery grants announced today.

Edinburgh City Youth Cafe (above) receive £195,000 to develop their project which offers support to young people who have been victims of crime, while get2gether have been awarded £145,000 to deliver a range of social events for people with disabilities. Hibernian Community Foundation have scored £148,500 to deliver a three year programme of activites for older people experiencing social isolation and the Welcoming Association has been awarded over £118,000 to continue to run and further develop their befriending programme for newly-arrived refugees.

The Hibernian Community Foundation project, which is participant led, will  deliver a wide range of activities including IT skills, gardening, walking, cooking, music and a holiday programme. The programme will also provide volunteering opportunities and will engage with almost 400 people across the life of the project.

Brenda Black, Hibernian Community Foundation Manager, said: “We are really pleased to receive this award and it will allow us to continue to build on our community engagement with older people.

“Our aim is to build our connections to help improve health and wellbeing and reduce social isolation for older people in our communities”.

MORE Scots recovering from addiction will get a second chance at life as an award winning bicycle refurbishing project in West Lothian today receives National Lottery cash to expand its activities and open its doors to more people. 

1st Step, run by staff and volunteers many of whom have been affected by addiction, is one of 29 groups across the country sharing in £4,165,316 from the National Lottery Community Fund.  

The group (above) receives £137,934 to develop and continue its bike refurbishment programme, 1st Step Bikes, for people in recovery in West Lothian and Falkirk. Based in Linlithgow Community Recycling Centre, it provides new skills and volunteering opportunities to people like 1st Step Bike Mechanic Stephen McKnight, 37, who credits the group for helping him to rebuild his life after nearly two decades of being stuck in addiction and the criminal justice system.

Stephen said: “I first became involved with 1st Step Bikes in 2016 with a simple idea of creating a group for people affected by addiction, like me, to learn some transferable skills. The plan was to break some of the isolation that addiction can cause and make some connections between ourselves and other support networks within the community.

“Over the last three years I have been one of the lead mechanics within the project, which has given me structure to my life and taught me to be responsible. Most importantly, it has helped me to repair and rebuild relationships with my loved ones. Enabling me to be a son, a brother, a partner and a father which would not have been possible without the continuous support from 1st Step and the new relationships I have been able to make.”

Volunteers at 1st Step Bikes fix up old unwanted bikes and give them a new lease of life before they are sold or gifted back to the community. In doing so they complete an accredited training course and thereafter many move onto more positive destinations such as paid work or college.

Maria Throp, Development Manager, 1st Step Development Ventures, said: “We are all extremely excited to have received this award from the National Lottery. It will make a huge difference to what our team can achieve in terms of providing support and training for people and families getting their lives back on track after being affected by addiction.

“We are a community group run by a mixture of people, many of whom have been affected by addiction. Anyone can be affected by addiction at any time in their lives and it can have huge impacts for individuals, families and communities.

“At 1st Step we’re all about getting people together to provide a positive environment, where they can support each other and work together, and make a real difference to themselves, each other and the wider community.

“We are also very grateful for the support of our local partners including Police Scotland, West Lothian College and West Lothian Council who let us base our workshop at the Linlithgow Recycling Centre. By working together we can really get things done.”

Announcing today’s funding to 29 projects across Scotland, Maureen McGinn, The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Chair, said: “This £4minvestment will allow more groups across Scotland to expand and develop their activities to help improve the health and wellbeing of hundreds of people and their families.

“Through these projects, people will gain new skills and confidence to help achieve their ambitions and move on to more positive destinations. I want to say thanks to all the National Lottery players who have helped make this possible.”

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

Tonight’s the night for get2gether

disco

New dates have been announced for a special club night in Edinburgh for local adults living with a disability, following the success of the first event earlier this year. 

The next club night takes place tonight (Thursday 10 April, followed by June 12, August 14, October 16 and December 11.

The charity get2gether organises the club nights, which take place at the Cav nightclub. The event is an opportunity for people from Edinburgh and the Lothians living with a disability to meet up and make new friends.

get2gether is an Edinburgh-based organisation that arranges ordinary social activities in ordinary places for disabled people. The charity – which currently has over 70 local members – believes that everyone deserves the same opportunities for love and friendship.

Marion Smith, Project Co-ordintor, said: “Our launch night was a fantastic success with around 150 people coming along. There was a great atmosphere with people still dancing at 12.30pm! We’re delighted to release the rest of the club night dates for this year as we’re sure there are lots more people who will want to come once word spreads about how great they are.”

She added: “The nights are a great way for people, who are maybe not sure about going to a mainstream club night, to meet new people in a fun and safe place. After attending our events we hope that they will gain more confidence about going out and meeting new people. “

One member said: “It’s given me opportunities to do things I wouldn’t otherwise get to do.”

The club nights are free to members and £5 for non-members. The night runs from 8pm – 1am. To book a ticket or to find out more, email info@dates-n-mates-lothian.co.uk or phone Marion or Ellie on 07970 000454.

To find out more about the group – and the other events they run – visit http://get2gether.org.uk/