6 April 1998

National Lottery Charities Board awards 29 grants worth £5.7 million to UK organisations

The National Lottery Charities Board today announced 29 grants worth a total of £5.7 million to groups working across the UK under its Improving people’s living environment and Voluntary sector development grants programme.

The Board is funding a range of projects within these themes, including the largest UK-wide award of £518,330 which is going to the Telephone Helplines Association (THA) to fund a project which will ensure that the UK’s 650-plus helpline services provide measurable standards of service. THA estimates that 14 million people in the UK will call a helpline service over the next three years and this project will help the people on the end of the ‘phone help their callers.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust receives £136,502 for a "Get Connected" free telephone helpline service which will ensure that young, vulnerable people are immediately put through to the most appropriate agency when they call looking for help. The project will be undertaken with other organisations, including Childline, Crime Concern, The Samaritans, Save the Children and The Railway Children.

The Pets As Therapy (PAT) charity has received an award of £120,000 to expand its work. The organisation will use the grant to co-ordinate 10,000 pets and their owners who volunteer to visit older people and people with disabilities.

Under the Improving people’s living environment theme, the Tidy Britain Group will be promoting a "Britain in Bloom" project throughout the UK. Already over a million people take part in this well-known annual event, but the grant of £483,000 is to encourage more communities, particularly those in urban areas, and older people, to become involved.

The Marine Conservation Society receives £191,939 for an "Adopt a Beach" campaign - an initiative to involve coastal communities around the UK in caring for their local shoreline environment by monitoring pollution and litter levels. The Society will co-ordinate twice-yearly surveys of the coastline, undertaken by around 100 local groups. The survey results will form a comprehensive database to identify areas of coastline where there are pollution or environmental problems.

Gerald Oppenheim, Director of UK and Corporate Planning, commented: ‘UK-wide grants are made to organisations which operate throughout the country and can therefore have a beneficial effect on all our lives, whether we get cleaner, safer beaches, or better helplines.’

This is the final announcement in the National Lottery Charities Board’s fifth grants programme, bringing the amount awarded to 1,306 groups to a total of £133 million. Since October 1995, the Board has awarded £817 million to nearly 14,000 projects.

To interview grant recipients or to speak to Gerald Oppenheim telephone the press office on 0171 747 5200.