Self-harm project among beneficiaries of £14.8m Big Lottery award

A variety of schemes that benefit children and young people are among 624 projects across England to benefit from the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All and Reaching Communities programmes, including national youth work organisation Youthscape's Selfharm UK project.

The Luton-based organisation has been handed £496,490 which it plans to use to help advise up to 2,250 professionals including youth workers, teachers and parents how to deal with self-harm among young people. Various courses and events will be provided through youth clubs, schools, colleges and GP surgeries.

Youthscape also plans to use the money to expand services so it can work with an additional 4,350 young people.

Lyn Cole, grant making director at the Big Lottery Fund England, said: “Projects such as Youthscape help people to grow in confidence, focus on their strengths, and in turn help others going through similar life events by sharing their experiences.”

Croydon-based organisation Young Roots was also handed close to £500,000 to expand its Rise Up project, which provides youth activities and casework services for young asylum seekers and refugees aged between 11 and 25. ?

??Jonathan Mawby, chair of trustees at Young Roots, said: “This grant will enable Young Roots to expand our work with young refugees in a time when this is needed more than ever.

??“We look forward to continue to help our young participants tackle the challenges they face, build new skills and friendships and hopefully build a positive future.”??

The St Mary Islington Community Partnership in London was also handed cash worth £325,454 to develop a project designed to deliver a range of activities around employability, health and fitness, creative expression and life skills to disadvantaged 13- to 25-year-olds.

It plans to support up to 700 young people from the London boroughs of Islington, Haringey, Hackney and Camden.

Smaller amounts of funding were also given to various voluntary and community organisations that help children and young people including the 5th Boston Scout Group in Boston, Alcohelp in Halstead, and The Childcare Academy in Luton.??