CHARITIES working with families and disadvantaged children in Solihull are celebrating after being handed more than £55,000 from Children In Need.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Birmingham Child Contact Centre have been handed £55,398 in total from the charity’s small grants programme to support disadvantaged children and young people across the borough.
BBC Children in Need’s small grants programme is used to award grants of up to £10,000 a year to support projects for up to three years.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has been awarded a three-year grant of £29,688 to provide an outdoor environmental project (Forest School) for disadvantaged children living in areas of deprivation.
The environmental-based project aims to improve young people’s confidence and self-esteem whilst increasing their physical and emotional wellbeing.
Vicky Dunne, education manager at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust said: “We are hugely grateful to BBC Children in Need for this grant.
“With this funding we will be able to provide local disadvantaged children the opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities which will lead to improved self-esteem.
“Spending time in local green spaces will improve their mental wellbeing and increase their confidence when playing outdoors and enjoying their local environment.
“The sessions will teach the children new skills and knowledge whilst further enhancing their self-confidence for a positive future.”
Birmingham Child Contact Centre has been handed a three-year grant of £25,710 to provide a dedicated and supervised space for children and young people to spend time with a parent they are not currently living with.
The funds are said to provide a place where children and young people can develop their emotional wellbeing whilst building positive relationships with their non-resident parent.
Robert Vickers, chair at Birmingham Child Contact Centre said: “In providing support to young people that need our help the most, we need to offer reliability and consistency on a sustained level.
“Funds from BBC Children in Need will ensure we can offer those needs to children and young people in our area.
“These funds will make a vital difference by allowing us to create a welcoming space and environment where children and young people can interact positively with parents, leading to better relationships, improved wellbeing, resilience and confidence building. Thus helping to provide better life chances in the long term.”
Children In Need currently supports 15 projects, including these latest additions, and has invested £986,000 to borough projects.
