A project working to prevent domestic violence across Yorkshire & The Humber received a Lottery lifeline today as the Big Lottery Fund announced a £500,000 grant for Leeds based charity STOP (Start Treating Others Positively).

The funding from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme is providing support over four years for STOP’s Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme. The project works to break the cycle of domestic abuse by encouraging perpetrators to change their behaviour and become positive role models to their children and others around them.

Having secured the grant, STOP can now expand its service, increasing the number of programmes available across the region. A combination of therapeutic group work, cognitive behavioural techniques, role-play, awareness raising and reflective exercises will be delivered both directly by STOP and in partnership with Women's Aid. One to one counselling is also provided in addition to group work sessions.

A STOP service user commented: “Coming to STOP changed my life, I was so pleased when I heard about the BIG Lottery Fund award and that this service will now be around to help many more people for years to come.”

Cheryl Harrington, STOP Funding Manager, said: “The management committee, staff and volunteers at STOP were all delighted with the news. The previous twelve months had been very tough financially for STOP. We have been working very hard to secure funds to keep our groups running.  The Lottery grant now gives us the stability to continue our work and to develop our services over the next four years.

“Our other big news is new premises.  From 28 September we will be based at 3^rd Floor Duncan House, Duncan Street, Leeds LS1 6DL.  Our website, email and telephone number remains unchanged: www.stoponline.org, administrator@stoponline.org  tel: 0113 2446007.”

Vanessa White, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for Yorkshire and The Humber, said: ”This project will help prevent future incidences of domestic violence by directly working to tackle the behaviour of the perpatrator. The Big Lottery Fund is proud to be able to support expert voluntary and community groups across the UK who are dedicated to preventingmale and female abuse, as well as addressing its consequences. At least £58m has been invested over the lastfive years towards such purposes.”

Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659

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

Notes to Editors

• Under Reaching Communities, the Big Lottery Fund awards grants between £10,000 and £500,000 to projects that offer people better life chances, build stronger communities, develop improved rural and urban environments and improve health and well being.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally 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 £23 billion has now been raised and more than 317,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.