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We are so excited to be able to announce that we, NE1 Counselling CIC, have been awarded almost £18,000 in National Lottery funding to support our ‘Rise and Thrive’ project for women in the local community. The funding will be used to run a peer support group for women who are struggling with the stresses and pressures of day-to-day life and provide fully subsidised 1:1 counselling sessions.
The pandemic saw a huge rise in the number of people suffering with their mental health. Waiting lists are at an all-time high with the NHS and existing services, who offer free counselling, are struggling to keep up with demand. We are passionate that financial barriers should not prevent anyone from accessing the mental health support they need.
So far this year, we have worked with residents of South Tyneside in a project based at Bilton Hall Community Trust. Seeing the impact this has had on those who have accessed our fully funded counselling sessions, as well as their friends, family and their wider community, we knew we wanted to continue this vital work. Since March, we have delivered over 160 counselling sessions at no cost to service users.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will allow us to offer a support group for women in the Newcastle area to build a community of peers, raise self-esteem and confidence as well as have an outlet to discuss their personal struggles. At the same time, we will be able to offer 1:1 counselling sessions for those who may require more individualised support. Throughout the spring and summer of 2025, we aim to provide over 300 counselling sessions at no cost to the service users.
We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work. After launching in January this year, NE1 Counselling became a community interest company (CIC) in May. Now, thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to offer support women who are struggling due to pressures of everyday life. Juggling work and home life, with everything in between, in 2024 is tough! Many women are the support figure for their families and take on the problems of others, often without someone to turn to when they are struggling. Offering women a place to come together and create their own trusted community will be beneficial to the women of the Newcastle area and the wider community. We want to help empower women and encourage them to prioritise their mental health.
The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030.
As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year (2023/24) The National Lottery Community Fund awarded over half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting over 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk