Kirsty Williams AM

Kirsty presents £75,000 cheque to Disability Powys

Kirsty hands over the cheque to Disability Powys: Back row - Helen Stock, Gordon Ames (Director Vice-Chair), Chris Green (Director), Jim Lawson (Director), Chris Birch (Chief Officer), Jon MacKeen (Executive Chair), Front row - Louise Hicks, Kay Anderson (Director), Kirsty Williams, Heather Richardson (Admin & Finance Officer).

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon and Radnorshire was delighted to present a £75,373 Big Lottery funding cheque to Disability Powys. The money will be a boost to disability equalities and diversity training in Powys The money, awarded to Disability Powys based in Llandrindod-Wells, will help fund a project to extend the services of a specialist Training Agency and ensure its long-term sustainability.

The grant was distributed under Big Lottery Fund's People and Places programme, which aims to bring people together to make communities stronger and to improve rural and urban environments.

Disability Powys is a county-wide organisation supporting those with physical disability or sensory impairment or long term ill health in matters of housing, care services, health, access, transport, employment and education issues. Their ultimate goal is to revitalise the community by raising skills and confidence and improve community relations and social integration by raising awareness of equalities and diversity issues.

The group was awarded a Lottery-funded Awards for All grant back in 2004 to help develop their training services, and later set up a Training Agency in 2005 as part of a BIG Lottery VCS-funded project. Based on resounding success and a growing demand for their services during the first two years, and the production of a detailed Business Plan which demonstrates the potential for the Agency to become self-sustaining by 2011 subject to investment in their training packages, Disability Powys now seeks to extend its training services further. Their latest People and Places award will, over two years, fund the salaries of a part-time Training Agency Manager and Administrative Support officer, training costs and expenses.

Speaking on behalf of Disability Powys, Helen Stock said: "This grant means so much to us, as it will help cover the costs required to take our work to the next level. We've identified a considerable need to continue and expand the Training Agency and this money will enable us to meet the demand for more holistic equality and diversity training, develop Agency's consultancy work and promote our services across Wales in partnership with a range of organisations.

"Specifically, this money will mean that we can now enhance our packages to include training for individuals, statutory bodies and voluntary groups on a broad range of disability, equalities and diversity issues including training on Equality and Diversity, Advice, Advocacy, Benefits and Welfare Rights, Planning and Access. We will also be providing free specialist training to members of the Shire Access groups across Powys to enable them to carry out Access Surveys and Audits and train volunteers to deliver 'lived experience' training to service providers.

"By forming new partnerships, gaining Accreditation Centre status and developing innovative training methods such as e-learning we will retain staff, enhance the services available, and ultimately establish the Training Agency as a Centre of Excellence on Disability Equalities and Diversity training."

Highlighting the importance of the People and Places programme, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee Member and Chair of the People and Places Committee, Janet Reed, said: "Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales. It delivers on our promise to use Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy. I'm sure this project will have a positive impact in terms of raising awareness and providing essential training services to help improve understanding of equality and diversity issues."

The £66 million People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects. For further information about the People and Places programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk and use the 'Wales' specific search facility.

For further information about Disability Powys please go to www.disabilitypowys.org.uk.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office - Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207

Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431

Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030 Textphone: 845 6021 659

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.

• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.

• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 300,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.