Group receives £29k cash help
Home-Start’s Children in Need fund aid
BBC Children in Need has announced a threeyear grant of almost £ 30,000 to a West Lothian group.
The £ 29,910 awarded to Home-Start West Lothian will help deliver a number of activities and support services for under- fives living in an area affected by high levels of deprivation.
This latest boost from the charity’s refreshed small grants programme brings the total invested in West Lothian to more than £341,000.
Funding will help cover the cost of a family group worker, trips, activities and a crèche to enable a variety of structured and free play opportunities that improve the personal development of early year’s children, whilst also providing direct support to parents aimed at increasing their resilience and access to community services.
At the project, children and their parents can participate in sessions designed to improve well-being, such as outdoor games, reading, singing songs, practising mindfulness, and learning first aid. In addition, children benefit from group games with their peers, which give them a chance to make friends, and increase their overall self-confidence.
Home-Start West Lothian conducts sessions in a nonjudgmental environment where the whole family can enjoy quality time together. However, volunteers can also visit families at home to make the project more accessible, and offers one to one sessions to better meet the needs of children with more complex challenges.
Shelley Bowman, project manager at Home-Start West Lothian said: “We are so pleased to have this support from BBC Children in Need once more. Previously their funding has helped us to provide opportunities for the children to learn and develop great skills that they can carry into later life, and with this latest grant we can continue to do just that.”
Janet Morton, National Officer of Scotland for BBC Children in Need said: “Our Small Grants programme is a great example of money delivering a big impact on a local level, and we’re delighted to award Home-Start West Lothian as they work to make a difference to disadvantaged young lives in the area. We’re always looking for quality applications for our Small Grants programme and with a recent refresh to our strategy we are now able to support projects for longer, helping us maximise the impact. If your project is working with disadvantaged children and young people, we encourage you to get in touch and find out more.”
BBC Children in Need’s chief executive, Simon Antrobus added: “With every grant awarded we are making a renewed commitment to transform young lives across the UK. Simply put, all of our grants – made possible by the generosity of the UK Public – ensure that projects working in the local community can respond to the needs of disadvantaged children and young people when they need it most.” Projects working with children and young people facing any kind of disadvantage can apply for funding at bbc. co.uk/pudsey/grants.