8 June 1999

£24.4 million awarded by Charities Board to health and social research projects

The National Lottery Charities Board today awarded 139 grants totalling £24.4 million to organisations specialising in health and social research right across the UK.

Health research projects to be funded cover a diverse range of medical conditions, including Alzheimer’s Disease, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, meningitis, blindness and spinal injury.

Social research projects to be funded cover a huge range of personal and social issues, including bereavement, caring, child accident prevention, coping with disability, the effects of retirement, special needs education and substance abuse.

The major beneficiaries of today’s announcements include:

• £5.1 million to charities working with people with mental and physical disabilities
• £4.6 million to groups helping children and families
• £2.3 million to projects benefiting older people
• £1.4 million to cancer charities
• £24.4m to health and social research

The largest award is £563,748 to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to discover the most appropriate method of removing the inflammation that blocks the airways and damages lung tissue. Among other charities benefiting today are the Samaritans, the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, Breast Cancer Campaign and the Anchor Trust, the largest provider of sheltered housing in England.

Diana Brittan, the new Chair of the National Lottery Charities Board, said: "I am delighted to announce grants to these high quality and wide-ranging research projects, which will have lasting practical benefits and give a great financial boost to health and social research.

"Improvements in services, treatment and understanding often result from first class research. These grants recognise the important contribution made by medical and social research charities in funding research into a wide range of diseases and conditions and the provision of new services. They also recognise the importance of the scientific community and the voluntary sector that supports it. We look forward to the successful implementation of these projects to help improve the quality of life for people in need."

Amanda Jordan, Chair of the UK Committee, which made the awards, added: "We were impressed by the range of projects submitted and delighted to have been able to make so many grants. We were helped enormously in our task by the expertise of the two advisory panels which reviewed the applications."

Media enquiries: Robert Blow 0171-747 5227