TWO children’s charities are sharing in close to £1 million of lottery funding to help enhance their digital services.
Scottish charities Aberlour Child Care Trust and Children 1st are among the initial voluntary sector organisations to be awarded grants as part of the National Lottery Community Fund’s new Digital Fund.
They are among eight UK organisations that have been successful in this round and will share in £3.4m of funding.
Founded in 1995, Children 1st – which will receive £371,896 – is set to use its its award to digitally enhance its Parentline service.
Parentline offers families the chance to talk about the problems they are facing, and its digital expansion will allow families to get support without waiting, whenever and wherever they need it.
Linda Jardine, director of children and families services at Scotland’s national children’s charity, said:
“Families say that Parentline is a lifeline.
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“Thanks to the National Lottery, Parentline will be transformed so every family can access that lifeline in the way that works best for them.
“When family life is tough, getting early help and support can make all the difference to a child’s future.”
One mother who had used the service said: “My son and I were at breaking point when I contacted Parentline.
“Being able to talk to someone neutral helped me see I had to change how I was dealing with the difficult situations because it was just making things worse.
“Once I changed that things slowly improved and Jenny from Parentline continued to be there when we hit any wee bumps. Thanks to Jenny’s advice and support our relationship has got stronger.
“I don’t know where we would be if I hadn’t got in touch with Parentline.”
Meanwhile, Aberlour Child Care Trust will use its £491,610 award to help redesign its services to ensure that children, young people and families can quickly access digitally enabled support while in crisis situations.
The charity works across a range of issues, and offers residential and foster homes for young people who have suffered abuse.
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Involving young people and families in shaping the design and delivery of services will be central to the project.
SallyAnn Kelly, chief executive officer of Aberlour, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be awarded this significant fund from The National Lottery Community Fund.
“This will enable us to progress with our ambitious plans to modernise our organisation and approaches in order that we reach more children and their families faster before they reach crisis point.”
In addition to the funding, the successful projects will also now benefit from being part of a support system set up for those who are awarded grants from the Digital Fund.
Maureen McGinn, chairwoman of The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland, said: “It’s great to see two major children’s charities in Scotland sharing in the first awards from our Digital Fund.
“Both organisations will put the families they support at the heart of their digital services to transform them for the benefit of Scotland’s children and young people.
“I am delighted that National Lottery players are helping to make this possible.”
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