The Leicester charities keeping people safe and supported through the local lockdown thanks to The National Lottery

New figures out today reveal an astonishing £4.5 million of National Lottery funding has been distributed to nearly 70 Leicester groups since lockdown.

Local good causes, community heroes and small acts of kindness which kept Leicester going through the local lockdown are being celebrated today, after it was revealed that over £4.5 million from The National Lottery Community Fund had been distributed to community groups across the city since the start of the COVID-19 crisis*.

Leicester good causes Highfields Community Association, Reaching People and Manav Seva Community Centre are among those to use National Lottery funding to provide vital support to vulnerable people in the city during this challenging time.

Priya Thamotheram, who is Head of Highfields Community Centre (which is run by Highfields Community Association) and has lived locally for almost 40 years, said: “Our area is one of the most socio-economically deprived wards in the city, it is roughly 85% BAME and Islam is the majority religion. As well as being more exposed to the virus, many residents in Highfield have suffered severe economic challenges as a result of the extended lockdown.

“The centre sent out a community survey, with many local people saying they had worries around kids going back to school, using local services and how the community’s businesses would survive.

“People, especially parents, not feeling they can come back and take up services would be a nail in the coffin for our area and its local economy.”

Highfields Community Association was recently awarded £22,000 in National Lottery funding to recruit two part-time community health workers, who are working with other organisations to help local families and vulnerable residents get support and access services, including giving parents the confidence and reassurance to send their children back to school.

The charity is also using the grant to provide PPE for local projects, to help rebuild confidence and the local economy, as the local lockdown eases.

“The funding couldn’t have come at a more important time,” said Priya, “we’ve lost a lot of income ourselves recently due to the coronavirus, so the money has allowed us to concentrate on helping the community through, and out of, this difficult time.”

Reaching People, a group of charities that deliver services around health, wellbeing and homelessness, was awarded nearly £100,000 in National Lottery funding during the local lockdown, and is using the money to provide ‘food bags’ to families at risk of food poverty during the summer holidays.

Jenny Hand, CEO at Reaching People, said: “In previous years we’ve pre-prepared sandwiches and other meals for people, but putting together the ‘food bags’ means the contents can be shared out, and also cooked according to cuisine and culture.”

The ‘Feeding Leicester’s Children’ project, which began in July, has aimed to distribute almost 40,000 meals to around 1,200 families across Leicestershire.

“Just the other day I had a report that one of the playgrounds we work with was able to support over 500 children in a week, with the help of national food charity Fareshare. The project has brought together people from different backgrounds, which really reflects the diversity of our area.”

Jenny’s experience on the ground during the local lockdown suggested that food poverty is not the only issue families in Leicester are facing.

“We’re learning that there is a real need for school uniform supplies, and that some parents were asking that instead of an activity pack, could we contribute to school uniform costs. We’re hoping that between now and Christmas we can start to help with this issue, too.”

Community Centre Manav Seva, which translates to ‘helping humans’ in Gujarati, is another one of the good causes using National Lottery funding to help people through the crisis, by setting up an emergency food parcel service for vulnerable residents.

Rajeshkumar Joshi, CEO of Manav Seva, said: “Since the second lockdown here, many people have been unable to access food and other essential items. Most shops stayed open, but the queues were long, making it more difficult for vulnerable people to get the items they need.

“We therefore had a big increase in demand for our food parcels, but thanks to the National Lottery funding we were able to help. The National Lottery Community Fund got the money to us very quickly, so we were able to start the project just before the lockdown was extended, which was vital.

“Not only have we been able to provide food parcels, but we’ve also used the money to distribute face masks to our staff, volunteers and clients to keep them safe. The project has been a success so far and we’re starting to receive referrals from Adult Social Services and other organisations.”

Manav Seva recently received nearly £84,000 in National Lottery funding. In total, 67 community groups in Leicester have received a share of over £4.5 million since the start of lockdown, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The money has been used by communities to help tackle local problems caused by the pandemic, as well as to continue longer standing projects designed to improve lives and help people thrive.

Jon Eastwood, Deputy Director of Regional Funding in England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The hard work of groups like Highfields Community Association, Reaching People and Manav Seva Community Centre who have been supporting the Leicester community through these particularly challenging times is truly inspiring.

“With Leicester experiencing an extended local lockdown, we recognised the importance of distributing vital funding at pace in the city so that these life-changing grants could reach those most in need. We are heartened to know that money raised by National Lottery players is making a real difference to people’s lives during the pandemic.”

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.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk