NI Groups Enjoy Big Grants Windfall For All

A Belfast project providing education support for young people who are dealing with anxiety and stress preventing them returning to school has been awarded a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

Belfast Hospital School is one of 66 groups across Northern Ireland that have been awarded grants totalling over £554,553 from the Awards For All programme (see separate attachment for full list of NI awards).

The organisation has been awarded £4,800 to develop a centre in Belfast for young people who have been in hospital and are now dealing with anxiety, low self-esteem and stress that means they are not ready to return to a mainstream school.

The project will support the young people to get involved in education again by taking part in lessons, groups work and therapies.

"Belfast Hospital School provides education for young patients suffering physical and mental ill health or injury in the Royal and Musgrave hospitals and other outreach centres," explained Michelle Godfrey, principal of Belfast High School.

"Up to now, young people suffering from anxiety based school refusal had to be educated at home by tutors from the school, but this only reinforced the problem of their isolation. But since October the Hospital School has borrowed rooms at the Link Centre in Barrack Street where we offer these young people support, and this grant will now allow us to rent our own dedicated space in the building.

"There are a whole range of reasons why these children do not attend school. They are often very vulnerable and some of the children have not been in mainstream school for at least a year.

"This is a way to provide them with therapy and to involve them in vocational education and give them careers advice so they can go into further or higher education. Coming to this school three or four days a week not only has huge benefits for them academically, but they have the chance to interact with people of their own age."

Geraldine Taylor’s 14-year-old son Conor has just returned to mainstream education after attending lessons in the centre. "Conor would not have been able to go back to school only for the support he got," she said. "It was a big relief to see him going out the door, even just for a couple of hours a day. It got him socialising again and built up his confidence as well as getting him into a routine. It has been an absolute Godsend."

Antrim charity Eye Feel Good has been awarded £10,000 to set up an outdoors adventure centre on the shores of Lough Neagh. Richard Fee founded the charity to raise funds to thank staff at the Royal Liverpool Hospital where his wife Anne-Marie was treated for eye cancer. "The support my wife and I received when she was recovering from cancer was just incredible," explained Richard. "I wanted to give something back so I set up Eye Feel Good to raise money to help other people who are living with this terrible disease.

"We will offer adventure activities including a climbing wall, orienteering opportunities, canoeing and stand up paddling. Any profit the centre makes will be channelled into different programmes helping people living with cancer."

Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, said: "The Big Lottery Fund’s NI Awards for All programme funds health, education, environment and community projects that help people bring about positive change in their lives, improve health and well-being, develop skills and create safer communities.

"The application process is simple and accessible, making it easy for applicants to successfully apply for small pots of funding that can have such a big impact on local communities and lives."

Application forms and guidance notes are available to download at www.awardsforall.org.uk.

For more details call us on 028 9055 1455, or e-mail us at enquiriesni@biglotteryfund.org.uk