COVID-19: More than £2.2 million of National Lottery funding awarded to Yorkshire & Humber community projects since June

Charities and community groups across Yorkshire and Humber have been awarded more than £2.2 million of National Lottery funding since the beginning of June – providing crucial support to overcome challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

This vital funding is being distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. This latest boost now means that, thanks to National Lottery players, over £21 million of funding has been awarded to more than 750 projects in England since the beginning of June.

In this most recent round of grant-giving, 67 community projects in Yorkshire and Humber are receiving a share - ranging from IT equipment for deaf and hard of hearing children to continue to learn from home, to virtual dancing sessions for people with mobility issues.

Leeds Black Elders Association (LBEA), based in the LS7 area of the city, is one of the good causes stepping up to support people during this challenging time. It has been awarded almost £20,000 of National Lottery funding to create a book of memoirs, stories and expressions of thoughts and feelings from older people in the community who want to share their experiences of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them.

The cathartic exercise aims to build confidence, amplify the voices of those feeling isolated from society, and potentially shape support services for older people in the future, should a crisis like this ever arise again.

The charity was founded over 25 years ago to provide extra support for the large Afro-Caribbean population living in the LS7 area. With more and more families from different backgrounds settling in the neighbourhood, LBEA now operates an inclusive service for all members of the local community.

The book will include professional photographs of some of LBEA’s community members, printed alongside written accounts of their experiences. Once finished, it will be available in a number of local libraries and community venues.

Elvie, a member of the Leeds Black Elders Association, said: “Because of the Black Elders Association I have been able to meet lovely new friends. They treat us well and if they hear that you are sick, they come running, making sure that you are OK and that you have everything you need.

“Even with the Coronavirus going on, they will come around and ask ‘Do you need this? Do you need that?’ They will say ‘Oh, we’ve left something on your doorstep’ and, whatever it is, you are thankful for it because sometimes it’s something that you really, really need.

“We are grateful, and we are thankful that we have an association like that in Leeds.”

Tony Williams, Project Manager, Leeds Black Elders Association, said: “It is vital to break down the isolation caused by this pandemic and, for us at LBEA, we see this as an opportunity for the voices of our members to be heard and recorded, as this is something that will impact on their lives for a long time.

“Our regular conversations over the phone during the lockdown led us to realise that being socially isolated a lot of the time, they had so many thoughts, feelings, expressions and experiences they wanted to share, and all they needed was that platform.

“Thank you to National Lottery players, as without them this project wouldn’t have been possible.”

Abdou Sidibe, Head of Funding for Yorkshire & Humber at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The National Lottery is playing a critical role in supporting people, projects and communities during these challenging times. Groups such as Leeds Black Elders Association are making an amazing contribution to the community-level response. We’re incredibly grateful for their dedication and the hard work of thousands of projects across the UK – we’re humbled by their efforts and delighted that our funding is able to help.”

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Last year we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, and supported over 14,000 projects to turn their great ideas into reality and make a difference in their communities.

Across all of the National Lottery distributors, £600 million has been made available to support communities throughout the UK during the coronavirus outbreak. Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for the UK’s good causes, and £41 billion has been distributed to 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994.