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20 September Charities Board provides additional support for families in ScotlandA brand new support organisation for parents and a stronger Scottish network for foster carers will be created by funding from the National Lottery Charities Board which today announces grants worth £10.4 million to Scotland’s voluntary and community sector. Children in Scotland will receive £273,179 to set up a Scottish Parenting Forum which will bring together a range of voluntary organisations working in local communtities to provide support for parents and develop good parenting practice. Based in Edinburgh, Children in Scotland is the national membership agency for voluntary, statutory and professional organisations and individuals working with children. Its membership includes 200 family self-help support groups and all of the major children’s charities. The project to be funded by the Charities Board will fill a gap in provision and meet a demand for local support to be provided for parents and parenting organisations. The National Foster Care Association will use its grant of £243,013 to boost support to the people who look after the 3,300 children currently in foster care in Scotland. It is estimated that more than three quaters of carers have no access to independent support, advice and information, and carry out their responsibilities in isolation. The Charities Board grant will provide development support for the association’s membership Project which will aim to recruit more of Scotland’s foster carers into a network of support and boost their support with other professionals. The new project will be based in Glasgow but but will operate throughout the country. At the other end of the scale, a small and relatively new group is to receive a grant of £16,100 to create a national organisation which will seek to influence family policy and provide information about the rights of grandparents. GASH(Grandparents Apart Self Help Group) was set up in 1996 to provide information and advice to grandparents who have lost touch with their grandchildren. The Livingston-based organisation aims to extend its service throughout Scotland, to create a network of local branches, and to provide training for volunteers. The grants are amongst 83 announced today under the Charities Board’s Community Involvement and Poverty and Disadvantage programs. Today’s largest award goes to St Vincent’s Hospice in Howood which receives £648,017 to build an extension. The new premises will increase the capacity of the hospice and enable it to provide a wider range of treatments and therapies for patients as well as creating overnight accommodation for relatives. Today’s grants cover the length and breadth of Scotland, with almost two thirds of them benefiting people in rural areas. Substantial funds will reach community organisations in Shetland, where Bressay Community Action will use a grant of £85,000 to create a safe play area for children on the island, and the Shetland Amenity Trust will receive £82,000 to develop environmental initiatives. The trust plans to involve people with physical and mental disabilities and to develop links with drug and alcohol support groups. Shetland Science and Technology Group while Dunrossness Central Public Hall will get a new heating system making it more useable by local people in this isolated community. Rural communities in the Scottish borders receive almost £120,00 to build or upgrade community halls in Gattonside, Glen Douglas and Longformacus and a grant of £183,000 also goes to Border Women’s Aid. The grants announced today bring the total funds distributed by the National Lottery Charities Board in Scotland to over £140 million. More than 5000 organisations have benefitted since the Board started making grants in October 1995. ENDS. For more information and arrangements to interview recipients, contact Kay Caldwell or Kirsty Mullan on 0131 221 7100 or 0468 583441. Note to editors:
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