Big Lottery Fund hands £789,000 to Brighton and Hove community projects

Thirteen community projects in the city are receiving a share of the £50.3 million fund raised by National Lottery players for good causes.

Travel Buddy, a project by the Grace Eyre Foundation based in Brighton and Hove, will be receiving £364,000. The project, which supports people with learning disabilities, will use the funding to help people travel independently and safely.

The project is set to empower people with learning disabilities to see family and friends whenever they want to, as well as becoming more active in their community, travelling to work or education, and simply being in control of their own lives. People will be taught skills and matched with local volunteers, who will train and accompany them on transport to and from a work placement.

Eva Eriksson, chief executive at Grace Eyre, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this funding will make a real difference to the local community and to the people we support. Travel Buddy brings a major investment into the lives of people with learning disabilities in Brighton and Hove.

“This is a tremendous boost to people’s health and wellbeing over five years. We listened to people with learning disabilities when they told us they wanted greater independence, so we can’t wait to get started in 2018.”

James Harcourt, England grant making director at the Big Lottery Fund, said: “We are proud to be able to distribute National Lottery money to community projects like Travel Buddy that are making a real difference in Brighton and Hove. When you hear about projects like this you realise the incredible impact the money generated by National Lottery players is having on communities across England. It really is life changing.”

Other Brighton and Hove groups granted funding are:

- One Church Brighton has been granted £306,426 for One Youth Brighton, providing safe spaces and positive engagement for children, young people and families to improve their health, self-confidence and self-esteem. Activities will have a preventative approach, with a focus on building healthy living, one-to-one support and positive relationships for them and their families. A programme will run during the summer holidays to provide healthy meals and activities for families.

- Home-Start East Sussex was handed £7,719 for its Freedom Domestic Abuse Course, a project supporting women and to improve their family lives.

- Moulsecoomb Toddler Group, was given £7,950 for the Moulsecoomb Rhyme and Shine, a programme of interactive story telling sessions for pre-school children to develop reading skills that support their transition to school.

- Friends, Families and Travellers were handed £8,814 for a Gypsy Holocaust Commemoration, delivering a series of events including workshops, plays and exhibitions linked to Holocaust Memorial Week to commemorate The Romani part in the Holocaust with the aim of raising awareness of Gypsy Roma Traveller History, dispelling negative stereotypes and bringing communities together.

- Brighton and Hove Social Welfare and Educational Trust Limited will receive £9,577 for Grassroots Voices, a project offering skill-sharing workshops to bring communities together.

- Veritas Justice CIC will get £9,900 for Digital Resilience - Safer Online Communities, to deliver interactive workshops to raise awareness about how information is shared online; looking at issues around online dating, fraud, cyber stalking and bullying.

- City Gate Community Projects (CGCP) takes £9,951 for the FareShare Sussex development project, giving more people, including those who are homeless, access to surplus food services by providing a new delivery route in East Sussex, and training for new volunteers.

- City Reads will receive £9,980 for its Booky Photo Booth, a project to install a temporary photo booth at a local library which will be unveiled on World Book Night to encourage residents to bring in their current book and be photographed, and deliver a series of book-themed events to bring the local diverse community together and build a picture of the city’s reading habits.

- Homeless charity Off The Fence has won £10,000 funding for its ‘Hygiene for all project’, to purchase a new van to provide hygiene products and hot and cold drinks to homeless people.

- Hullabaloo Community Quire will benefit from £10,000 for its Street Choirs Festival 2018, including workshops and free entry for people with low incomes, to bring people from different communities together in music.

- Kidzone will get £10,000 for the Hollingdean children’s art club, which will continue to run a programme of after school and holiday art activities for children.

- Little Green Pig has won £24,668 funding for Space to Create, and the group will develop a project which works with young people aged eight to 16, through the provision of unique creative writing experiences. The aim is to improve self-esteem, develop literacy skills and raise the attainment levels of children and young people so that they can participate more fully in society and have better life chances.

As part of today’s (December 5) quarterly announcement, the Big Lottery Fund revealed that it is making grants totalling £50.3 million going to over 2,300 community organisations across England.

Last year it awarded almost £713 million and supported almost 14,000 projects across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes. The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40 per cent of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes.