16 March 1999

Charities Board awards £3 million to UK Charities

The National Lottery Charities Board today announced eight grants totalling £3,066,516 to charities and voluntary groups working throughout the UK.

Seven of the grants were made under the Board’s Community Involvement programme, which funds projects to improve the quality of life for the whole community.

The largest award announced today is a grant of £723,000 to the National Missing Persons Helpline. The grant, over three years, will double the capacity of the Helpline, which was set up to provide a support service for the families and friends left behind when people ‘go missing’. The organisation works with police forces throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland to disseminate information about missing persons to the media. They also operate a confidential ‘message home’ service for missing people to advise their friends and family that they are safe without revealing their location.

The project is to develop the capacity of the Helpline in line with the projected growth in demand. The additional staff of nine people will assist in the development of the Helpline and the services it is delivering.

A grant of £290,310 to the Children’s Head Injury Trust is the first to be announced under the Board’s second continuous grant programme - Poverty and Disadvantage. This programme was launched in October 1998. The Board wants to improve the quality of life of people and communities who are disadvantaged by poverty or who are at risk of poverty.

The Children’s Head Injury Trust aims to relieve the disabilities of children with brain injuries. The charity provides information and advice regarding the treatment and rehabilitation of children to families and service providers. Many of these children come from low income families which suffer extra hardship because of additional caring needs. The grant, over three years, will continue the work of the Hardship fund which aids around 80 families per year.

Both Community Involvement and Poverty and Disadvantage programmes are open all the time. There is no deadline for returning completed applications. For further information, telephone 0345 91 91 91.

Media Enquiries: Robert Blow 0171 747 5227