BBC Children in Need has awarded a further £407,828 to support projects working with children and young people in Coventry facing a range of disadvantages.
This latest boost of funding, from the charity’s Main Grants programme, brings the total currently invested in Coventry to more than £1 million, say organisers.
The newly awarded grants come as BBC Children in Need celebrates its highest fundraising total; £60m was raised during the charity’s 2016 appeal.
Relate Coventry & Warwickshire has been awarded a three-year grant of £135,933 to provide family and one-to-one counselling for young people going through domestic crisis in Coventry and Warwickshire.
The programme of dedicated support will go on to raise the young people’s self-esteem and well-being whilst creating positive coping strategies for the young people to implement as they move forward.
Mandy Boothe, service manager at Relate Coventry & Warwickshire, said of the funding award: “With this funding we will be able to support vulnerable young people in the area who really do need our help. Through the programme of support we will be providing young people with the skills they need to cope with the issues they have faced, and prepare them to face the future with greater resilience and improved well-being.”
Also in Coventry, Wild Earth has been allocated a three-year grant of £75,856 to provide ‘Stepping Stones’, a nature based programme providing six-week courses for young people not in education, employment or training, many of whom experience social isolation, disengagement, and mental health issues.
The six-week courses are nature based immersive experiences that aim to raise the young people’s self-esteem and well-being, whilst increasing the young people’s employability and aspirations for the future through self-led change.
Geeta Sarcar, director of development and programmes said of the funding award: “Through our six-week programmes we support young people to focus on their lives and consider ways of implementing change, empowered by the support they receive to create positive and lasting change that will go on to impact their future. We are so grateful to BBC Children in Need for their support; it really will go on to make an enormous difference.”
Other projects benefitting from funding in this round include WATCH Ltd with a three-year grant of £134,184, and Blaze Community Foundation with a three-year grant of £61,855; both of which will go on to benefit disadvantaged young lives across Coventry.
Speaking of the news, Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive of BBC Children in Need said: ““These grants would not have been possible had it not been for the incredible support shown across the UK in 2016. To everyone who fundraised and donated in 2016, thank you, the money raised really will go on to make a huge difference to children and young people throughout the UK who need it most.”
