Big Lottery Fund: Disabled groups get benefits from lotto cash

Thursday, 8 May 2008 12:00 AM

England-wide projects that support people with disabilities are amongst 36 projects sharing over seven million pounds today as the Big Lottery Fund announces the latest awards from its Reaching Communities programme.

The Disabled Parents Network and Listening Books have both received Lottery good cause funding from Reaching Communities that is awarding grants to projects improving communities and the lives of those most in need.

Across England support for families with disabled parents can now be expanded with a four-year grant of £499,635 awarded to Disabled Parents Network. The Disabled Parent Family Support project provides advice, information and help for disabled parents to overcome fears about approaching social services and tackles a lack of understanding of their rights and responsibilities.

The project will develop the organisation's 22 local network links across England that are run by volunteers who are disabled parents themselves. The groups will support other disabled parents and share personal experiences. A helpline service and face-to-face support and advice will also be provided, as well as an outreach service offering in-depth support.

Simone Baker, Vice Chair of Disabled Parents Network, said: "Disabled Parents Network was thrilled to hear that our grant application had been successful. It will help us expand our unique service, providing much needed information and support to disabled people who are parents or who are planning to become parents. The "uniqueness" of the service means that it is critical to ensure that disabled parents out there know about the organisation's existence and the support on offer.

"Disabled parents are often isolated. They can speak to other people who are parents or to other people with impairments, but a crucial aspect to what Disabled Parents Network offers is peer support from other disabled parents. Feedback from users of the service suggests this is invaluable.

"Expanding and promoting the support service will ensure we are able to reach maximum numbers of disabled parents as well as many of those individuals or groups who are harder to reach and presently under-represented within the organisation. Just as importantly, the funding will ensure the continued development and expansion of the organisation into the next decade and beyond, which I am certain will be a very exciting time!"

Bringing books to life for people who can't access the printed word, a two-year grant of £222,964 has been awarded to Listening Books for its Digital Books project. The project specifically targets people with a disability that prevents them from being able to read or hold a book. The initiative complements the organisation's existing work of providing audiobooks on cassette by making them available via internet streaming and in MP3 CD format.

The books are available for all ages and offer a range of genres. For older people audio books can be a relief from boredom and loneliness. Younger members with a disability such as dyslexia will be able to access books appropriate to their intellectual age rather than their reading age. The project also provides educational audio books for Key Stage Two up to A-Level.

Bill Dee, Director of Listening Books, said: "Listening Books has long provided an excellent cassette tape audiobook service to people who cannot read in the usual way. Our members may be dyslexic, physically unable to hold a book or turn a page or they may be visually impaired. This grant from the Big Lottery Fund will enable us to offer a full and comprehensive audiobook library through new digital media, namely MP3 CD and the internet streaming of audiobooks. In short, it will bring new access to people who too often have been left out or locked out of the wonderful world of books."

Sanjay Dighe, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund's England Committee, said: "Both these projects are great examples of how BIG's Reaching Communities programme is striving to improve the quality of life for people across England.

"Being a parent can be difficult enough but being a parent with a disability can greatly add to the challenge of parenthood. The Disabled Parents Network already provides essential support but with this award it can expand its services to reach even more families.

"The Talking Books project is taking the words of traditional books off the page and into an easily accessible audio format, opening up the benefits of books, whether for learning or pleasure, to people who would not otherwise be able to enjoy them."

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030 Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

. The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.

. The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 280,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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