Swansea-based organisations receive a share of grants from the Big Lottery Fund totalling £124,900

2019 got off to a great start for four Swansea-based organisations with a share of grants from the Big Lottery Fund totalling £124,900. The grants are made possible by people playing the National Lottery.  

Ospreys in the Community received £97,530 to employ staff and volunteers to deliver their TACKLE project to various schools across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend.

The project is aimed to benefit young people aged 12 – 16 who have been identified by schools as at risk of becoming, or who are not in employment or education. Each person will participate in a two year programme that will use rugby as a tool to improve confidence, interpersonal skills, self-esteem, life skills and educational/employment opportunities. 

Dorian Evans the Employability Co-ordinator from Ospreys in the Community greeted the grant saying:  

“We’re absolutely delighted to have been given this award from the Big Lottery Fund which will have such a massive impact on our project. With the funding we will be able to develop our TACKLE programme to work with even more disadvantaged young people aged 12 – 16 who live in our region.  

“We’ve had a lot of success so far with our pilot project for TACKLE, but it’s really exciting that because of this funding we will be able to work with many more disengaged pupils than before and even more importantly we will be able to work with them for longer. We’ll now be engaging students in a new two-year project meaning the impact on their self-confidence and interpersonal skills will be huge, and we will have more time to support them to gain qualifications and employability experience.” 

Three other organisations in Swansea successfully applied for smaller grants:

Chinese in Wales Association in Swansea applied for £10,000 to work with the parents and families of children with Autism providing advocacy and translation support. This project will also raise awareness of autism and related conditions within the Chinese community.  

Cwmtwrch RFC in Swansea will use their grant of £10,000 to improve their community hub, making it more sustainable and allowing for wider usage by local people. They will install a solar, thermal hot water system. 

Families and Friends of Prisoners in Swansea have a grant of £6,000 to establish a meet and greet centre, where loved ones of prisoners can seek advice about the education, health, welfare and housing systems. It will fund a volunteer co-ordinator and volunteer expenses.