Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire><br /></span>
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MAJOR GRANTS APPROVED BY THE GENERAL MEETING
OF THE GRAND CHARITY IN JUNE 2006

£1.455 million of support for non-Masonic charities was approved at the General Meeting of the Grand Charity held on 21 June. More than £3/4 million of grants to charities including the Samaritans, the Brain Research Trust and Skills Force, were approved for payment at the recent General Meeting of the Grand Charity. Full details of the grants made and their regional spread are attached. The Grand Charity is contacting the recipient charities to explore opportunities for publicising the grants and where possible this will include opportunities for the involvement of the relevant Provincial Grand Lodge.

In addition to the grants outlined above, approval was also given for the provision of £180,000 in support of air ambulance services and £500,000 to fund asthma research projects, the latter made in recognition of the contribution made to the work of the Grand Charity by Raymond J Lye.

CHARITY	AMOUNT and PURPOSE
Disability
National Autistic Society	£30,000 to provide funding for the Help! Support programme for parents of newly diagnosed autistic children
The Calvert Trust	£25,000 to provide bursary funds for activity holidays for disadvantaged disabled people
National Blind Children's Society	£25,000 to fund items of IT equipment for disadvantaged blind children
Royal School for the Deaf	£25,000 to equip a new vocational workshop for young deaf people
Vulnerable People
Samaritans	£85,000 to fund professional training programmes for the volunteer directors and caller care deputies ( 2 instalments)
Contact the Elderly	£60,000 to fund a central administrator for local social groups for isolated elderly people (3 instalments)
WellChild	£45,000 to fund the cost of a WellChild nurse
Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths	£30,000 to fund a helpline
Maggie's Cancer Centres	£25,000 to fund a cancer information specialist

CHARITY	AMOUNT and PURPOSE
MDF Bipolar Organisation	£20,000 to fund a service to help people with bipolar disorder to find or retain employment (2 instalments)
Action on Elder Abuse	£15,000 to fund a training course for home workers to help them recognise and deal with the mistreatment of older people
Youth Opportunities
Skills Force	£150,000 to fund expansion of Skill Force's educational support programme for disadvantaged young people (3 instalments)
Clubs for Young People	£50,000 to fund a sports development manager to provide national sports programmes for local youth clubs
Medical research
Brain Research Trust	£150,000 to fund research into brain tumours (3 instalments)
British Brain and Spine Foundation	£40,000 to develop training resource to improve the early recognition and diagnosis of neurological conditions

SUMMARY OF GRANTS

DISABILITY

National Autistic Society - £30,000

A grant of £30,000 to fund the Help! programme of workshops, which provides advice and support for parents whose children receive a late diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder. Each workshop covers identification of the spectrum of disorders, strategies for developing communication and social networks, educational issues, managing challenging behaviour and planning for the future.

The Calvert Trust - £25,000

A grant of £25,000 to fund bursaries to enable disadvantaged disabled people to attend centres run by The Calvert Trust in Keswick, Kielder and Exmoor . The centres provide outdoor activity centres for over 10,000 visitors from age 6 to 90 people with all kinds of disabilities, whether physical, learning or sensory. The visits enable disabled people to find out how much they can do, rather than what they cannot do.

National Blind Children's Society - £25,000

A grant of £25,000 to fund IT equipment for visually impaired children in low-income families. The charity provides fully qualified IT assessors to assess the child at home and at school to identify the right equipment. The equipment is used to enable the children to maintain progress at school.

Royal School For The Deaf - £25,000

A grant of £25,000 to fund the cost of equipping a vocational workshop for deaf young people with additional disabilities. The new workshop forms part of a complete modernisation programme at a specialist college for post-16 year olds. It is estimated that 250 young people will benefit each year from the workshop.

VULNERABLE PEOPLE

Samaritans - £85,000

A grant of £85,000 payable in equal instalments over two years to fund training programmes for the volunteer directors and caller care deputies of local branches. Professional training is provided to all volunteers to enable them to deliver a high quality and consistent service. Every three years each branch appoints a new volunteer as a director. The course content includes governance, financial responsibilities, people management and motivation, and working with the police.

Contact The Elderly - £60,000

A grant of £60,000 payable in equal instalments over three years to fund a central administrator. The charity exists to relieve the acute loneliness of very elderly people who live alone with inadequate or limited social support from family, friends or statutory services. There are 272 social groups across the UK with 4,500 volunteers helping 2,271 elderly people. A new central administration officer will provide an efficient first point of contact for all enquiries and will support the regional development staff.

WellChild - £45,000

A grant of £45,000 to fund a WellChild nurse for home nursing for chronically sick children. NHS community nursing teams do not have sufficient funds to look after children who are living at home but who have chronic and sometimes severe complex illnesses. The new WellChild nurses will provide regular nursing and teach parents how to manage the caring role, including practical help with items such as ventilation or feeding. The work will prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital and help parents to become expert in their children's care.

Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths - £30,000

A grant of £30,000 payable in equal instalments over two years to support the salary of a helpline adviser. There are still more than 300 cot deaths each year in the UK and a further 200 babies die suddenly from accidents or infections. Some of the work of the helpline is in supporting bereaved parents and also taking calls from parents of new babies, often those who are single parents or who are isolated and have no local network of support. More than 4,000 people benefit from the service.

Maggie's Cancer Centres - £25,000

A grant of £25,000 to fund a cancer information specialist in Oxford . Maggie's provides practical and emotional support to anyone affected by any type of cancer in centres where people can meet, relax and obtain advice. The Oxford service is currently provided from temporary premises within the oncology outpatients department at the Churchill Hospital . The post is filled by an oncology professional.

MDF Bipolar Organisation - £20,000

A grant of £20,000 payable in equal instalments over two years to fund a service to help people with bipolar disorder (manic depression) to find or retain employment. The purpose of the project is to help up to 50 people a month in all aspects of employment, whether helping someone to return to work, to retain employment or to change to new employment.

Action on Elder Abuse - £15,000

A grant of £15,000 to fund a training course to help care workers recognise and deal with the mistreatment of older people. The funding will be used to convert an existing training pack on elder abuse so that it can be delivered to care workers who assist older people at home. The training will identify indicators of mistreatment and explain how to deal with problems form and will form part of a course to enable basic grade workers to achieve a vocational qualification in care.

YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES

Skill Force - £150,000

A grant of £150,000 payable in equal instalments over three years to fund the expansion of its services in the Manchester area. Skill Force uses the skills and experience of former Armed Forces personnel to follow a structured programme with young people aged between 14-16 years old who are struggling with education or at risk of exclusion. Currently 135 schools are implementing the programme and truanting has been reduced by up to 89%. The programme focuses on helping young people to achieve qualifications that employers will recognise.

Clubs for Young People - £50,000

A grant of £50,000 to fund the development of a national sports programme. The charity helps young people to develop and achieve their potential through a national programme, including sporting, recreational, creative, residential and adventurous events and activities. A new national sports manager will develop targeted sports programmes for use by youth clubs around the country to improve the health and fitness of young people by increasing their level of activity.

MEDICAL RESEARCH

Brain Research Trust - £150,000

A grant of £150,000 payable in equal instalments over three years to fund a research project which will study the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours at the Institute of Neurology at Queen's Square, London. Each year 4,500 new cases of primary brain tumours are diagnosed in the UK yet little is known about how or why the cancer cells start to grow.

British Brain and Spine Foundation - £40,000

A grant of £40,000 to develop a training resource to improve the early recognition and diagnosis of neurological conditions to enable patients to access appropriate treatment as early as possible. 10 million people in the UK are affected by neurological conditions but medical students receive limited training in neurology. The DVD is intended to reach 12,000 health professionals including medical students, nurses and GPs.

If you would like further information on any of the grants then please contact Natasha Ward on 020 7395 9394 or Annabel Grout on 020 7395 9296. Alternatively you can email them on nward@the-grand-charity.org or agrout@the-grand-charity.org.

CHARITY

DISABILITY National Autistic Society - £30,000