£2.4 million to deliver a BIG future for care leavers in Wales

Hundreds of people leaving care in Wales will have more support to access further education, employment, training and volunteering thanks to contracts amounting to over £2.4 million awarded under the Life Skills project today.

Under the first two rounds of the Life Skills project, four lead specialist providers share in a total of £2,472,078 awarded to support 568 care leavers in Wales, improving their chances of finding a job and gaining access to vital education, volunteering, training and employment opportunities.  

The £14 million Life Skills project is a funding stream, which, for the first time, matches Big Lottery Fund (BIG) money with European Social Funds - distributed through the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO). The project does exactly what it says on the tin, by aiming to help people who face multiple barriers improve their Life Skills by increasing their confidence and re-engaging them in education, learning, volunteering or employment.

Using knowledge and experience of engaging with care leavers, the four lead organisations awarded contracts today will deliver individual packages of support tailored to each individual’s personal needs.

Both Llamau Ltd and Barnardo’s Cymru have been awarded contracts under both rounds. Under the first round, Llamau Ltd has been awarded £512,978 to run the Learning for Life project to target young care leavers living in Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taff. Under the second round, Llamau Ltd, in consortium with United Welsh Housing Association, will spend £664,008 on targeting young care leavers across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Under both rounds, Barnardo’s Cymru has been awarded a total of £442,000 to deliver services to care leavers who are not in education, employment or training in Denbighshire and Wrexham. Barnardo’s Cymru will work in partnership with CAIS Ltd and Careers Wales North East to help deliver their service in Wrexham.

Both Torfaen County Borough Council and Ceredigion County Council have also been awarded contracts under the first round of the project. Torfaen County Borough Council will spend over half a million pounds (£538,900) on supporting care leavers in the County aged between 16 and 24 to access further education, training and employment.

And last but not least, Ceredigion County Council has been awarded £314,192 to help care leavers across the County of Ceredigion

Delighted with the announcement of the new contracts, Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning, Leighton Andrews, said: "At a time when we are still feeling the effects of the recession, these contracts announced today will enable the organisations to reach out to more people and develop their skills to improve their long term employability. It will also address the very barriers that prevent individuals from entering and remaining in the workforce and delivering lasting benefits to people, communities and the Welsh economy."

Highlighting the importance of the funding, Big Lottery Fund Director for Wales, Ceri Doyle, said: “The organisations awarded contracts today will make a big difference in Welsh communities by providing care leavers with the confidence to function independently. It’s important to fund informal life skills projects as they help people to participate in community life and maximise their employment opportunities. We are excited by our partnership with WEFO and we look forward to seeing the outcomes of these contracts. I’m sure they will make a significant contribution to BIG’s promise of bringing real improvements to the lives of people and communities most in need.”

There will be further contract announcements through the Life Skills project during the course of the year.

The Life Skills Project is just one of the funding streams currently being delivered by the Big Lottery Fund, you can find out about our other programmes by visiting www.biglotteryfund.org.uk or you can phone the BIG advice line on 0845 10 20 30.  (text phone 0845 602 1659).

Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office – Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760171431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 08456 021 659

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £24 billion has now been raised and more than 317,500 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.