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Press Releases
91Èȱ¬ Children In Need delivers over £15million worth of grants
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91Èȱ¬ Children In Need is this week delighted to announce more than £15million worth of grants to projects which will positively change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.
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This spring allocation is the first of two rounds of grants which are possible thanks to a predicted 2006 income in excess of £31million.
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None of these grants would be possible without the energetic and often creative fundraising efforts of the charity's supporters.
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Since the appeal night last November, which raised an impressive £18.3million, 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need has received additional donations from fundraisers, schools and businesses across the UK.
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A Rolf Harris-designed Christmas card, the range of merchandise energetically promoted by the TOGs (listeners to 91Èȱ¬ Radio 2's Wake Up To Wogan show otherwise known as Terry's Old Geezers or Gals), and countless other activities supporting 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need, ensure that money continues to pour in months after the big night.
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Fundraising activities across the UK have ranged from quizzes to cake sales, as well as the record-breaking efforts of a 14-year-old yachtsman from Hertfordshire who crossed the Atlantic single-handedly in January.
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This year the sky's the limit, with Pudsey bear set to tour the country in a YAK52 light aircraft whilst raising funds with an Ipswich-based aerobatic display team.
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Since November, the 91Èȱ¬ charity has received thousands of applications for funding. These are rigorously assessed and processed in the months leading up to April by the charity's nine UK offices.
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The 792 projects finally selected all work with youngsters who are affected by homelessness, neglect, abuse or poverty, or those who have encountered serious illness, disabilities and psychological disorders.
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The grants are targeted to the areas of greatest need and are allocated geographically to ensure that from Aberdare to Ballymena, Benbecula to Carlisle, Cambridge, Dorset and the Isle of Man, all corners of the UK receive a share of the money raised.
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The average amount awarded to a project is £19,916 with grants ranging in size from £350 all the way up to £344,570. The latter grant is going to the Renfield Centre Children's Fund in Glasgow for the provision of a welfare fund for individual children.
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David Ramsden, CEO of 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need, says: "Once again we are delighted by the vast amount of money we are able to distribute to diverse projects around the UK.
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"Every single grant will make a positive difference to the lives of young and disadvantaged children and this is entirely thanks to the fundraising efforts and generous donations of the UK public."
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For a list of April 2007 grants, by region, please see: bbc.co.uk/pudsey/about_us/grants.
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Notes to Editors
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Northern Ireland
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A total of £1,264,342 is being distributed to 164 diverse projects including the Lurgan Detached Youth Project run by ECF-Links in County Armagh. This independent charity provides youth outreach, counselling, mentoring and education in a safe community centre for 10 to 18-year-olds in Lurgan. A grant of £31,704 will fund the post of Project Co-ordinator and project costs for one year. The project is working to bring alienated young people into the Underground Facility – a drop-in centre – where they can deal with the issues they care about, and learn leadership, decision-making and job skills for the future.
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Scotland
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One hundred and thirty four grants totalling £2,207,325 are reaching a wide range of projects including a three-year grant of £78,000 to the Aberdeen Foyer to fund a music-based youth project. The project works mainly with young people affected by mental health problems and homelessness, as well as young offenders, to help them establish independent and healthy lives. The grant will fund a new member of staff based in Aberdeen to travel with their expertise and equipment to remote parts of Aberdeenshire. They will engage with young people living in towns that in the last few years have suffered from substantial economic decline.
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Wales
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Seventy five grants totalling £1,349,218 are being sent to projects including Hi! Help Inside. This voluntary service in Abertillery offers a free counselling service which addresses incidences of serious trauma, including the death of a parent or sibling and sexual abuse, in the deprived area of Blaenau Gwent. Manifestations of problems can include anxiety, depression, eating disorders and substance misuse and the grant of £4,944 will contribute to a family therapy service for children which helps families tackle these problems together.
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North West England
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£1,606,717 has been allocated to 48 projects, including the award-winning Annie Mawson's Sunbeam Music Trust. A three-year grant of £77,005 will fund Music for Life sessions for children with a wide range of special needs, including cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, autism, sensory impairment and profound multiple disability. Therapy sessions at five different locations around Cumbria harness the therapeutic and interactive use of music to encourage creative responses and breakthroughs in communication.
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North East England
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£1,695,383 will reach 40 projects including the Newcastle Toy and Leisure Library, a project which provides learning and support activities alongside toy and equipment loans for disadvantaged children. The children who benefit from the project typically have profound or multiple learning disabilities but many are also socially excluded and/or living in situations of deprivation. A family worker post, which concentrates on the under-five age group in delivering group work sessions and home visits, has been continually funded by 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need for five years. An additional three-year grant of £77,005 will ensure the post continues to be of great value to the children it serves.
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Midlands and East England
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£1,990,591 will be awarded to 78 projects including Enthusiasm in Derby. Enthusiasm is a voluntary organisation which works with disadvantaged 12 to 18-year olds who are socially excluded and at risk of offending, in an attempt to divert them away from criminal or anti-social behaviour, raise their aspirations, build self-esteem and equip them with skills for further education or employment. The grant of £23,120 will help support Enthusiasm's youth inclusion project by funding Friday night youth club sessions and residential trips.
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London and South East England
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£3,052,716 will be awarded to 156 projects including the WISH Centre in Harrow which will receive £105,827 over three years to fund a support service for children experiencing family violence and self-harm. Self-harm is a coping mechanism which enables a person to express difficult emotions and last year's national inquiry into self-harm, found that one in 15 young people had self-harmed in the UK. WISH has won awards for its innovative work in supporting young self-harmers and was recommended as a model of best practice by the same 2006 national inquiry. The 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need grant will fund a new team which will provide one-to-one advice and support, outreach work, satellite work with schools and an online support service for youngsters aged 11 to 18 who are self-harming.
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South West England
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Sixty-one projects are receiving £1,324,840. A one-year grant was given to the Martlets Hospice which provides care to people with terminal illnesses living in and around Brighton and Hove. 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need is funding their children's bereavement counselling project for the fifth year running. £6,997 will pay for a team of four counsellors to deliver 244 counselling hours to 100 children who are experiencing the death of a parent, grandparent, close relative or family friend.
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UK-wide
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At least 36 grants totalling £1,282,390 have also been allocated to UK-wide projects. Details of these will follow.
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91Èȱ¬ Children In Need is a registered charity, number 802052.
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The 2007 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need Appeal will take place on Friday 16 November 2007.
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AG2
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