Two Local Cambridge Groups Celebrate Project Success.
Local groups Lifecraft and Cambridge Sustainable Food are celebrating the success of investment from People’s Health Trust using money raised by Health Lottery East.
Lifecraft were awarded £24,996 to develop two established groups supporting people with mental health needs living in Cambridge. The Singing group members are developing sessions to include light/moderate exercise and craft group members are developing sessions further to increase the quality and quantity of the goods it produces and sells.
Andrew Deller from Lifecraft says: “Thanks to this funding we have been able to develop two established groups supporting people with mental health needs living in Cambridge.”
Cambridge Sustainable Food were awarded £23,931 for the Thyme to Cook project. Dec 2017 saw the end of a two-year project which ran a family cookery club which benefited families from diverse backgrounds and low-income households, including people with disabilities.
The club was popular from the first session. By the end of two years there were 5 families (5 adults, 10 children) who had been attending the club for almost all those two years.
One parent commented: “I would never walk into a room of people I didn’t know and still be here two years later I don’t think – because that’s a massive thing”
By the end of the two years, the participants, who have self-identified as all having mental health issues (e.g. anxiety and bipolar disorder) or domestic violence issues, expressed an interest in opening the group to other families. who have similar issues with the aim of decreasing social exclusion and building confidence.
One said: “I think it’s nice to have the opportunity to try and do it ourselves and to help more people. It will probably give us more confidence as well being able to run something like this and hopefully help other people like we’ve been helped”
Thanks to People’s Health Trust and an agreement to roll forward an under spend, Cambridge Sustainable food have been able to work through 2018 to help the group set up their own sessions.
Chris Lunn, Director of Health Lottery East, said: “We are delighted that money raised by Health Lottery East is supporting such important local projects.”
Local grass roots charities in the East of England will benefit from Health Lottery tickets sold from 1 December until 29 December. What’s more, during that time, for every £1 entry into a weekly lottery draw the player will automatically be entered into the monthly mega raffle taking place on 1 January 2019, with a guaranteed prize of £250,000.
For more information, visit www.healthlottery.co.uk
