Big Lottery win
26 January 2012
Charities win Big Lottery funding to help children in Hertfordshire who have ‘hard start in life’The project, provided by Westminster Drug Project (WDP) and Safer Places in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council and others, has won funding from the new Big Lottery programme ‘Improving Futures’.
| Yasmin Batliwala, Chair of WDP, talks about the ‘One Herts – One Family’ project |
‘One Herts-One Family’ will work with families facing a range of problems, especially drug misuse, domestic abuse and emotional problems. The project will provide early interventions to families with children under 11 years old who are not currently receiving any other family intervention services.
WDP and Safer Places have been awarded £900,000 over three years. As well as improving the life chances of children, projects funded by Improving Futures need to develop new ways of working between voluntary organisations and public services so that families get better, more joined-up support in the future.
Yasmin Batliwala, Chair of WDP, said, “Domestic abuse, substance misuse and emotional problems blight many peoples’ lives resulting in low self worth, loss of hope, and feeling an inability to escape. I am pleased that the Big Lottery Improving Futures Fund has chosen to support WDP, together with Safer Places and other partners, to help make a significant difference to vulnerable families in Hertfordshire. The funding means that children and adults facing these problems will have access to holistic support from our project ‘One Herts – One Family’.
Children who grow up in families with multiple and complex needs have a difficult start in life, and subsequently poorer chances for life. We know when different service providers all come together to support a family in a coordinated and integrated way, it measurably improves the life chances for those children. This is exactly what we want to achieve at WDP, and that is precisely why this is such an amazing project!”
For images, interviews and information please contact the WDP press office on 020 7421 3160, email: communications@wdp-drugs.org.uk
Notes to editors:
Westminster Drug Project (WDP)
WDP is a charity committed to helping all those affected by drug and alcohol use including families and communities. We celebrated our 21st anniversary last year and were named as one of the UK’s top places to work by the Sunday Times Best Places to Work in the Public and Charity Sectors 2011. WDP believes that with the right support, people can recover from drug and alcohol dependency. We deliver services on behalf of local authorities across London and the South East and also raise funds to develop and improve the support we give. Services range from Open Access, Day Care and After Care through to specialist family and children, alcohol and outreach programmes. We also work closely with partners in the criminal justice system to rehabilitate offenders and break the cycle of drug use and crime. For more information about our work, please go to www.wdp-drugs.org.uk
Yasmin Batliwala JP, Chair of WDP
Yasmin Batliwala is a magistrate with nearly 20 years’ experience chairing Public Sector organisations and she is one of the founding trustees of WDP. She has been a Non-Executive Director of the Hertfordshire Partnership (NHS) Foundation Trust, Chair of the Hertfordshire Police Authority, Chair of the Watford Community Safety Partnership and Co-Director of the Police National Assessment Centre. Yasmin has an extensive background in the field of substance misuse, having managed the Substance Misuse Unit at the NHS's North East Thames Regional Health Authority and undertaken work for the United Nations Office of Drugs & Crime. Yasmin started her career undertaking ‘action’ research for the Department of Health into drug use within SW5 and Soho. She worked exclusively with drug users who were neither accessing nor engaging with services. The experience fired Yasmin's passion for ensuring that services are directly geared to meeting service users' needs rather than those of service providers or commissioners. She is CEO of the charity Advocates for International Development (A4ID).
Safer Places
Safer Places is an independent charity providing a comprehensive range of services to adults and children affected by domestic and sexual abuse and family conflict who live in West Essex, North and East Hertfordshire and Southend. Safer Places works with families and individuals to help them recover, to empower them, to rebuild their lives. Trained specialist workers undertake a thorough assessment of each family’s needs, plan how to respond to those needs, provide support and advice and other services and work closely with other agencies to provide fast and integrated access to their services. For more information about our work, please go to www.saferplaces.co.uk
The Big Lottery Fund Improving Futures Programme
The Big Lottery Fund states: “Every child deserves the best start in life, but we know that some grow up in difficult circumstances. Some families experience multiple and complex problems – for example, to do with poor health, unemployment, debt or housing problems – which can affect their children’s wellbeing and life chances. The Improving Futures programme aims to improve outcomes for children within these families.” For more information about the Big Lottery Fund’s Improving Futures programme, go to: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_improving_futures