27 April 1998

National Lottery Charities Board Invites Application for grants to fund Health and Social Research

The National Lottery Charities Board’s grant application line for the Health and social research grants programme opens on Monday 27 April 1998.

Charities and voluntary organisations who want to apply for a grant to undertake medical or social research into health, disability and social care can obtain an application pack by telephoning 0345 919191 (textphone 0345 556656). The pack will also be available to download from this web site by 30 April 1998.

Application packs will be available until 9 October 1998 and completed applications must be returned to the Charities Board by 30 October 1998. Grants will be announced in Spring 1999.

Gerald Oppenheim, Director of UK and Corporate Planning, said: ‘This programme gives charities involved in health, medicine, disability and social care, a chance to apply for research funding. We have all benefited from the results of research into medical and social aspects of health and I am confident that in the long-term many people throughout the country will share the benefits of the research grants funded in this programme.’

This is the Board’s second grants programme supporting medical and social research into health, disability and care. In 1996 the Board funded 56 research projects worth a total of £8.6 million. Organisations which received grants included The Imperial Cancer Research Fund, The Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, Age Concern, The British Lung Foundation, and the British Diabetic Association.

For further information contact the National Lottery Charities Board Press Office on 0171 747 5200.

Examples of research projects already funded

In 1996, under the Health, disability and care grants programme, the Charities Board awarded £8.6 million to 56 medical and social research projects supported by charities and voluntary organisations in all four countries of the UK; many working in partnership with research centres. A wide range of research was funded.

Medical research

Research into Ageing - £168,866 over three years
This grant supports one of Research into Ageing Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Fellowships, for research based at the University of Sheffield.

The research examines osteoporosis, the condition of bone thinning which leads to fractures and disability. It is calculated that over two million people are affected by the condition, a problem that is likely to become more acute as our population ages. At present no treatment is available to replace bone already lost and to find a drug that will stimulate bone growth would be a major achievement.

The charity's application represented work that was important to the charity's supporters. The research design had been examined by three independent external reviewers, and by the charity's own scientific advisory committee. We could see that the charity had experience of managing research grants of this size, and that it was committed to dialogue with its supporters. So, although this was a proposal for basic scientific research, it was research with an important public awareness dimension. It may not have been possible to identify, exactly, the number of potential beneficiaries, but the charity was able to make a convincing case for research from which many people might benefit.

Children's Liver Disease Foundation - £189,859 over three years For people with kidney failure there may be the possibility of dialysis. But for acute liver failure there is no equivalent; patients may die before they can get a transplant or their own liver has a chance to recover. That is why the search for an artificial liver model is so important.

Scientists and surgeons at the University of Birmingham had a proposal to investigate a bio-artificial liver, something that if successful could function as a liver outside the body. This charity's advisory panel recommended the research to us as being an ideal combination of good science, attainable goals and enormous potential benefit.

A significant feature of the application, for us and the Foundation, was the commitment of the research team to the aims of the charity. Catherine Arkley, the Foundation's Director, believes that if charities are going to apply to us for funding, they need to show that everyone involved is committed to the project and to the charity.

Tommy's Campaign - £40,665 over one year
Pre-eclampsia is a serious complication in pregnancy, affecting as many as ten per cent of pregnant women. Researchers based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, had collaborated to examine how the breakdown of placental cells occurred and led to a rise in blood pressure, and so to the onset of pre-eclampsia. Discovering the cause is a necessary step in developing an effective treatment.

The researchers applied to Tommy's Campaign for a grant. The charity's scientific advisors were impressed by the proposal, which brought together two leading groups of researchers in pursuit of an important research goal. The research team needed a grant to employ an experienced laboratory scientist for the second year of the project.

Tommy's Campaign asked us for the funding. They managed to combine a very clear explanation of the science involved with an understandable statement of the possible benefits. The independent reviews were very encouraging and the cost was quite modest. Not only did the research appear sound, it was at the core of the charity's research funding strategy. Our confidence was strengthened by the involvement in the research of Professor Lucilla Poston, Tommy's Campaign's own Professor of Foetal Health.

Social research

The Family Fund Trust - £99,000 over two years
The Family Fund Trust is an independent charity giving grants to families to help with the extra costs of having disabled children. The grant enabled them to work with researchers at the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York. The research is looking at a number of topics which are important to disabled children and their families, including how closely the award of the disabled living allowance benefit at different levels reflects the levels of disability of different disabled children, or is influenced by other factors, such as geographical location. They are also looking at the transport and mobility needs of disabled children, particularly those who are under five and not eligible for the mobility component of disabled living allowance, and the information needs of parents of disabled children.

A positive feature of this research project was the partnership with the Social Research Policy Unit, which has acknowledged expertise in social research on disability, and particularly on disabled children and their families. The application was strengthened by the commitment of The Family Fund Trust to establish a panel of parents of disabled children to advise it on what the priorities for research were from their point of view.

Scottish Association of Law Centres - £35,000 over one year
The Scottish Association of Law Centres was awarded a grant to investigate the unmet legal needs of disabled people and carers in Scotland, and to find out whether a new Scotland-wide legal service for disabled people would contribute to meeting these needs. The project was undertaken by a team of researchers supported by two professors from Napier University, who between them had relevant experience and expertise on disability, legal and research issues. Draft findings from the project are being developed further through a specially convened conference to ensure that the final report reflects a whole range of issues confronted by disabled people and their carers in different parts of Scotland.

Al-Falah Youth and Community Centre - £166,110 over three years
The Al-Falah Youth and Community Centre provides recreational, educational and welfare services in an area of Bradford where there is a high level of deprivation. The grant has enabled them to start a three year project to improve the lives of children and young people of Asian and African-Caribbean origin with a sickle cell disorder or thalassaemia. The experiences and perspectives of young people with these two conditions remains largely un-researched and service provision aimed at supporting them is almost non-existent. The research for the project is being undertaken by a researcher at the Ethnicity and Social Policy Research Unit at the University of Bradford, who will be interviewing young people and who will also be evaluating the impact of some development work which will subsequently ensue.

For more information contact the National Lottery Charities Board Press Office on Tel 0171 747 5200.