PURPLE Elephant Family Support has been awarded £190k over the next three years in National Lottery funding, to assist with its core work supporting families facing disadvantage.
“The National Lottery Community Fund money comes at a time when pressure and strain on families as well as charities is immense,” says a spokesperson for the charity. “It will enable Purple Elephant to continue to run its vital services into 2024, 2025 and beyond and representing approximately 40% of its core running costs, this funding comes as a life-saver, after a wonderful, but very challenging year. After becoming a registered charity one year ago, the funding means we can now celebrate and plan for the future.”
The National Lottery money will be used to keep core workers in place, enabling the organisation to grow its offerings and support for local children as well as their parents or carers.
The charity currently offers multiple year-round services including holiday activities for referred families; its Small Steps early years, early intervention, parenting support service; a Toy Library lending service; twice-weekly Stay-and-Play sessions for pre-school children; and an adult-to-child befriending service for children, up to age 12.
This new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes, will see Purple Elephant expanding its services and its reach to those in need of support.
As well as beginning work on a new tween-age Youth Club and introducing a significant expansion of its toy lending service, the work to produce the annual inclusive Frome Children’s Festival will also go ahead for next summer.
“We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way,” says Sue Wills, founder of Purple Elephant. “Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to press on with our plans to broaden the range of opportunities available to local children and their parents living with some of life’s toughest challenges. This is important because it helps both the children and the parents to build relationships, create their own supportive circles of friends and peers and to work towards a town with greater integration and social inclusion. Thanks are owed to so many for getting us to where we are now, including our own volunteers. Thanks for our future is owed, in particular, to the players of the National Lottery.”
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK and last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities. It’s the largest community funder in the UK.
To find out more visit: www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
You can find out more about Purple Elephant’s work or sign up to volunteer with them by visiting: www.PurpleElephant.org.uk
