Putting football to work uniting young people, improving career prospects for single parents, and supporting homeless people - are among the 57 research initiatives today sharing in more than £20million from the Big Lottery Fund.

The money comes from BIG’s Research programme which funds high quality medical and social research projects across the UK.

Sir Clive Booth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund said: “The Fund has a proud record of supporting charity-led research into issues that are important to communities and people most in need. Today’s projects are spearheading vital research work which will develop better services for a wide range of beneficiaries. This will ultimately lead to brighter futures for many vulnerable people across the UK.”

Football Unites Racism Divides (FURD) Educational Trust in partnership with organisations such as Kick It Out and Sheffield United Football Club plc receives £279,094 for their ‘Football – A Shared Sense of Belonging’ project. The research project across Yorkshire and Humberside will be a rigorous and critical examination of the role that football plays in promoting social inclusion. It will focus on youngsters between eight to 25 years who have recently arrived in the country looking at how football can enable communities to interact regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or disability.

It is hoped that the research findings of the three year programme will help policy-makers provide opportunities for integration as football festivals and events at local and national level.

Howard Holmes, Director Football Unites, Racism Divides said, “Football is a global phenomenon and a vital part of English culture. For many new communities in Sheffield, football provides an activity that can help transcend the confusion of relocation and offer some familiarity within a strange new culture. This Big Lottery funding is fantastic as it will allow us to work with newcomers in telling their stories about life in England and the part that popular cultural pursuits such as football play in achieving a sense of belonging.

Up to 190,000 single parents across England and Wales are also set to benefit from more support to achieve their desired career path thanks to a £140,000 grant to Gingerbread, the National Council for One Parent Families.

The Single Parents’ Work Aspirations research project will investigate the career aspirations of single parents following anecdotal evidence that shows they are often filling low-paid jobs as more of them are being asked to move into paid work. The research aims to lead to better services and supports that help create new opportunities so single parents can achieve their career goals.

Vicki Peacey, Research Officer at Gingerbread, said: "We know that many single parents find it hard to achieve their aspirations for a job that really suits them and their family. We are delighted that the funding from the Big Lottery Fund will help us to understand more about what single parents want out of paid work, and we will use the research to help parents find work that ticks the right boxes for them."

Also sharing in today’s grants is Shelter, working in partnership with Crisis. They’ve received £363,769 to examine the factors which affect people’s ability to maintain tenancies in the private rental sector. Private rental is increasingly being used as a route to prevent homelessness but there is little knowledge as to whether this is a sustainable option.

Jackie Smith, Head of Research, Shelter, said: “Shelter and Crisis are tremendously pleased to be awarded this grant by the Big Lottery Fund. The private rented sector contains an increasing number of vulnerable people, many of whom have experienced homelessness, and very little is known about how well it meets their needs over the long-term. This research represents the culmination of many years of joint working between Shelter and Crisis. For the first time we will be able to explore the ability of vulnerable groups to sustain private rented tenancies and put forward solutions that can have a direct impact on improving their lives and the services they need to successfully sustain tenancies.”

View list of all grants awarded today 
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View list of all grants awarded today 
- 36KB

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

Notes to Editors

• The UK wide Research programme is awarding grants to voluntary organisations that work with researchers to run high quality medical and social research projects. Grants for up to five years of between £10,000 and £500,000 are available to charities and voluntary sector organisations, with up to £1 million for exceptional projects.  
• The programme is being administered by Momenta and supported by Third Sector First. Momenta works for the public sector to turn policy into practice by offering a range of programme management services, including research management, knowledge transfer, best practice, fund management and behaviour change programmes. Its programmes reach businesses, public sector organisations, the third sector, stakeholders and the general public.  Third Sector First is a collaboration of specialists in research and social policy, working primarily in the public and ‘third’ sectors.  It is linked through past or current membership to several of the UK’s leading university research centres and has conducted project evaluations in many subject areas, including health, social care, community safety, childcare and addictions.
• Round 1 of BIG’s Research programme consisted of 24 grants worth £7.7million, announced in October 2008.
• 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.