News Release
This information is embargoed until 26th November 2015
Reaching People moves one step closer to £1.9million lottery grant
A consortium of 30 charities & community organisations has moved one step closer to
securing £1.9m of funding to help 1,000 Leicestershire people gain skills and find
employment.
A local voluntary sector consortium called Reaching People has successfully had its
stage one application for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund and the EU rubber stamped.
The organisation will now move to the second stage of the application process and
has received development funding of £46,480 to progress with the bid for this project
to help local people improve their financial and digital skills.
The funding process is part of the Building Better Opportunities programme. The
scheme sees the Big Lottery Fund matching funds from European Social Fund (ESF)
2014-2020, to provide joint investment in local projects that tackle poverty and promote
social inclusion. Over the next few years the funding will be delivered in 38 Local
Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas according to local priorities.
Jenny Hand, Chief Executive of Reaching People, said: “Reaching People has secured
development funding to deliver a community consultation which will help to make sure
that the planned project will meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in
Leicester and Leicestershire. This consultation will be delivered over the next few
months and will inform the submission of a Stage Two application in early 2016.”
If successful the £1.9 million grant would extend the work of the consortium which has
been delivering the successful financial inclusion project, Moneywise, over the past
three years.
Reaching People is a voluntary sector consortium which includes more than 30 charities
and community organisations. Member organisations including Action Homeless, Asra
Housing Group, The Bridge, Community Advice and Law Service, The Y and Leicester
College who have worked together to develop this application. The application has also
been supported by Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and the
borough authorities, along with support from the Diocese of Leicester.
Matt Davis from Asra Housing Group, whose team worked on the bid on behalf of
Reaching People, said: “This application is a great opportunity to extend the work we
have been doing with Moneywise over the last few years. We know that people in
vulnerable communities may be struggling at the moment and we hope if successful that
this project will be able to offer some much needed support.”
Kathryn Burgess, Deputy Chair of Reaching People said, “The success of this
application so far is the result of so many partners’ hard work. It’s a great advert for
what the voluntary and public sector can do by working together. We’re really excited to
get working on the next stage of the process.”
Reaching People will soon be launching a consultation to develop the Stage Two
application and will be offering the opportunity for people to get involved in shaping the
project. More information will be published on the Reaching People website.
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Notes for Editors:
Reaching People
Reaching People is a voluntary sector consortium which aims to facilitate the joint
delivery by its members of contract, business and funding opportunities. We have
developed strong working relationships with strategic partner organisations based
across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and already have successful contracts in
operation:
Six Reaching People member organisations have come together to deliver
comprehensive advice and guidance support to service users recovering from drug
and/or alcohol use as part of the Leicester Recovery Partnership programme.
Reaching People members – CALS, asra, The Y, Action Homeless and Leicester
College – are key deliverers of the successful Moneywise programme. Moneywise is a
Big Lottery funded project, under the Improving Financial Confidence programme
which aims to make financial expertise more accessible to those in need. Moneywise
has supported more than 800 people in Leicester City over the last three years.
Key Contacts
Jenny Hand – CEO Reaching People – [email protected] - 07920 234788 - 0116 255
9995
The Big Lottery Fund
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The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better
for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the
money raised by the National Lottery for good causes and invest over £650 million a
year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable
purposes.
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Since June 2004 we have awarded over £8 billion to projects that make a difference to
people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative
travel funding for World War Two veterans.
Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than
450,000 grants awarded.
Building Better Opportunities is jointly funded with the European Social Fund as part of
the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in
England. The Department for Work and Pensions is the Managing Authority for the
England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union,
European Social Fund funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by
investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, skills development, job
creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations. For more information
visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
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