National lottery funding to help community groups in Wales
The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £1.8 million in funding to help people up and down Wales recover from the impact of Covid-19.
In total 68 community groups will benefit from the money.
Young people from Chirk and the Shropshire border could gain from funding awarded to WeMindTheGap in Wrexham and Flintshire who support some of the most vulnerable young people in their communities to change their lives, helping them to find work or get back into education.
The charity successfully applied for £59,801 to continue to offer its services with a virtual ‘Future Factory’ mentoring programme which will move to become a face-to-face programme as restrictions allow.
It will offer practical support for six months after the initial mentoring programme supporting young people as they progress in education or employment.
Rachel Clacher CBE, chair and founder of WeMindTheGap, said: "Young people need our attention more than ever. This funding is allowing us to pivot as a charity and to deliver a virtual programme expressly for those 16 years plus that are at risk of not engaging with school. We are thrilled to receive The National Lottery Community Fund’s support for the programme.”
Denbighshire-based Age Connect has been given £8,930 to produce a fortnightly online newsletter to help older people stay connected with the community.
The Aberystwyth and District Hospice at Home Volunteers (known as HAHAV) have also been looking at creative ways to allow their volunteers to continue to give their valuable support.
£76,600 will enable them to create a virtual hospice service as a bilingual portal for end of life related information, advice and resources. They will offer online group participation activities. Dr Axford, Chair of HAVAV said,
Bipolar UK will use its £24,314 to support‘face2face’ peer support groups in Wales to move online. The meetings will be open to anyone affected by bipolar disorder including people awaiting a diagnosis and family members, friends and carers. Groups will meet monthly and will be facilitated by volunteers with support from Bipolar UK.
Rosie Phillips, peer support services manager at Bipolar UK said: “Bipolar UK’s new Wales Video Peer Support Groups project will support communities most likely to face increasing challenges as a result of COVID-19.
"Our service users, already among the most marginalised and vulnerable people in the Principality, face their darkest time in the current health crisis. People with bipolar are 20 times more likely to commit suicide than others, but thanks to this Lottery grant we can now provide them with lifeline.”
John Rose, Wales Director at The National Lottery Community Fund said: “We continue to be impressed by the commitment and determination of the groups we fund to maintain their services, despite the strictures created by the pandemic. Behind the scenes we are continuing to work alongside the other funders to ensure that we can provide a safety net for all the communities that need it as we move into the Autumn and Winter of this strange year.”
