3 November 2000

All Aboard for Community Transport, as £4m awarded

The Charities Board today awarded worth a total of £4,181,881 Community involvement and Poverty and disadvantage grants to 24 groups in Wales. Elisabeth Watkins, Chairman of the Charities Board in Wales said, "A lot of hard work and dedication was in evidence in today's awards and my congratulations go to all the grant recipients."

A grant that will impact the whole of Wales was the £269,912 award made to Community Transport Association UK to provide the organisational structure required to advise and develop community transport projects in Wales. The money will pay for three full-time staff, transport, rent and office costs for three years. Those interested in running community transport projects will also receive help with management issues, information and training in aspects of legislation, health and safety, equal opportunities and vehicle specifications.

"Lack of access to transport is often an additional hurdle for disabled or older people or people living in disadvantaged communities and it is therefore a great pleasure to award a project that should significantly advance the availability of community transport in Wales," said Elisabeth Watkins. "Community transport addresses mobility needs which are not answered by the public or the private sector. An example would be youngsters from a disadvantaged area who cannot secure employment because of lack of public transport provision and the prohibitive cost of private transport. The solution could be anything from a pool of scooters to a community minibus. Even 'walking buses', where adults escort groups of children to school, is a form of community transport. In Wales, the Charities Board has set aside a total of £9m for a period of three years to fund community transport projects. I hope therefore that communities across Wales will contact the Community Transport Association for further information and to share the benefits of the grant with those at most disadvantage."

Two local community transport projects were also awarded grants, namely Ambus Consortium in Monmouthshire, awarded £27,407 for a minibus and running expenses shared by several voluntary groups, and Ogwr Transport for the Elderly or the Disabled, awarded £29,814 to purchase a new vehicle.

Other awards today include two grants over £400,000, namely £414,200 awarded to The Rest Bay Convalescent Hotel for purpose-built premises in Porthcawl and £486,072 awarded to NEWVOL to establish a functional and accessible office base for the Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council.

Two Women's Aid groups were also successful: namely Swansea Women's Aid awarded £104,326 and Abergavenny Women's Aid awarded £198,820 to expand an existing outreach service. Protecting vulnerable families is also the aim of Save the Family Limited based in Flintshire which received a £321,115 award to refurbish a hostel.

Groups seeking application forms for Charities Board grants or further information should call 0845 727 3273.

Notes to Editors

1. For media enquiries or group contact numbers please call Brian on 01248 679003 or 07880 5580361.
2. The National Lottery Charities Board is an independent body set up by Parliament to distribute funds to support charitable, benevolent and philanthropic organisations. There are 17 Board members, including the Chair. Decisions on grants are made by the members in grant-making committees for Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.
3. The Charities Board's two main grant programmes: Community involvement and Poverty and disadvantage as well as Small grants are awarded by the Wales Committee. Board Members in Wales are Elisabeth Watkins (Chairman), Jeff Carroll and Rhiannon Bevan. Co-opted Members to the Board are Margaret Dennis, Aled Siôn and Dr Glyn Williams.
4. The Board's main aim is to give grants to help meet the needs of those at greatest disadvantage in society and to improve the quality of life in the community.
5. Since October 1995, the National Lottery Charities Board, under the main grants, has awarded over £99 million to 1,020 groups in Wales. Over £5 million has been awarded to 1,916 groups under the Small grants scheme. This brings the total distributed in Wales, over five years, to over £100 million.
6. Full lists of Charities Board's grants are published on the internet at www.nlcb.org.uk and full lists of all Lottery distributors grants are listed at www.lottery.culture.gov.uk.

Note to Designers

The National Lottery Charities Board logo is the circular logo that appears on this press release. (The "crossed finger" logo is a trade mark for the National Lottery is therefore not for the Charities Board use).