Merseyside youth project receives over £1.2 million as part of National Lottery funding announcement
A charity that supports children and young people across Merseyside to have a better start in life has received over £1.2 million in National Lottery funding.
It is one of almost 2,500 community organisations across England to receive a share of over £144 million over the last three months from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK .* Within Merseyside, almost 90 organisations have received over £4.5 million in funding.
Right to Succeed has received the grant to support the expansion of its Cradle to Career programme across the Liverpool City region, focussing on meeting the needs of children and young people in some of its most deprived areas.
After a successful launch in North Birkenhead four years ago, the funding will now see the programme rolled out to the Linacre community in Sefton and the Parr community in St Helens, with the Speke community in Liverpool currently in the discovery phase for potential delivery next year.
The programme will bring together over 90 partners, including local authorities, primary and secondary schools, youth providers, local businesses, community organisations and health care providers, to improve the lives of children and young people and help them achieve their potential.
Since the launch in North Birkenhead, Cradle to Career has managed to close the average 15-month reading age gap among children aged 8-16, at eight schools. Reading has now become a pleasure for many of the pupils, with a 65% increase in children with a high reading ability. And a locally based multidisciplinary approach to providing services has seen a 500% increase in children and families being stepped down before they are considered to be at the edge of care.
As The National Lottery Community Fund prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary next month, Right to Succeed is just one project to receive a share of the Fund’s average annual investment of £119 million in projects with a focus on children and young people.
Right to Succeed's collective working and community-led approach aligns with The National Lottery Community Fund's own community-led mission to ensure that all children and young people have the chance to thrive.
Graeme Duncan, Chief Executive at Right to Succeed, said: “The communities we serve are unique, but have a similar story. They were built to house workers and their families to serve a primary industry, but over time that primary industry has been lost to the global economy. In this time, unemployment has risen, and so has poverty.
“This has been compounded by the ongoing effects of austerity, the pandemic and the costs of living crisis, which means children do not have access to as many opportunities and support as they should.
“Our Cradle to Career programme places local people at the heart of decision making, enabling communities to collectively identify and lead on the changes required to improve opportunities for their children and young people.”
One young person that has benefited from the programme is Luke, who grew up in a deprived area of Merseyside and suffered from low moods and feelings of isolation.
With his mum working shifts, Luke was often unsupervised after school. A lack of opportunities for young people on his estate meant that many of his friends usually hung around the local park, which was known as a prime target for County Lines gang recruitment.
After being referred to Cradle to Career, Luke began attending a local youth centre after school that allowed young people to learn new skills and leadership qualities. As a Young Leader, he has helped to run a number of activities, including a ‘Save our Playo’ (a local play scheme) campaign to stop the closing of the centre during budget cuts, a Child Criminal Exploitation Campaign to bring awareness to parents and children, and supported other young people to develop their skills. Luke is now hoping to go to college to study media and sport science.
Graeme said: "A huge thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery players. This funding will be transformational for hundreds of children and young people, opening up new opportunities by enabling them to access youth provision designed specifically for their needs.”
Helping children and young people to thrive is one of the four key missions of the Fund’s new strategy, It Starts with Community, which has already seen the creation of Youth Voice Advisor and Youth Voice Committee Member roles, who will work with its funding teams to help design, make decisions and be ambassadors for the Fund.
Gillian Halliwell, Head of Funding for the North West at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re delighted to support the amazing work of Right to Succeed, which helps children and young people to thrive and reach their true potential.
“Our funding decisions are powered by community expertise. Working within and alongside communities, we respond to their unique needs, strengths and opportunities, keeping our decision-making local.
“For the last 30 years no one has done more to change the game in the UK than National Lottery players. But our work is just getting started, and we’re developing new plans to go bigger and bolder with our funding - while continuing to address local issues through our existing programmes and initiatives. We’re committed to pursuing a fairer, stronger society.”
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
