UK Mental Health Charity Gets a £20k Lottery Grant
A lottery grant of £20,000 is on its way to Eight Bells For Mental Health. The money has been granted by the Community Fund at the National Lottery.
Eight Bells For Mental Health will benefit from a big lottery grant. © Paulo Diniz diniz Pixabay
Mental Health Charity Gets £20k Lottery Grant
A mental health charity in England has been awarded a £20,000 lottery grant.
The money has come from the Community Fund at the National Lottery , with Eight Bells For Mental Health able to continue running its drop-in sessions.
Based in Newbury, the mental health charity was set up seven years ago and provides a vital service for people in the area.
The manager of Eight Bells For Mental Health, Andrea Barrett, the group is all about “support, friendship and a listening ear”.
She added: “Our main goal is to reduce loneliness, isolation and the stigma that accompanies those that experience mental health challenges, as well as providing a safe, warm and friendly place where people can be among like-minded people.”
Eight Bells For Mental Health is named after the former pub in Newbury’s Bartholomew Street where it was initially set up.
What Is The Community Fund At The National Lottery?
With the money being raised by players of the National Lottery in the UK, the National Lottery Community Fund hands out more than £600 million a year to communities all over the country.
Previously known as the Big Lottery Fund before a change to its name was put through in 2019, grants often go to projects that support health and wellbeing.
The National Lottery Community Fund recently announced that it will be investing some £20 million each year across Northern Ireland as a direct result of its major new funding programme, which is called ‘Strengthening Communities’ and aims to support those in the greatest need.
Eight Bells Needs £94,000 Annually
Charity manager Barrett believes the annual running costs at Eight Bells For Mental Health run to around £94,000 a year.
Around 30 sessions for users of the mental health charity can be run as a direct result of the £20,000 grant being awarded.
“When the email came in, if I’m honest, I wanted to cry because it’s such a big chunk of our expenditure,” Barrett was quoted as saying by a local news outlet, Newbury Today.
“It means the world to us – our trustees, our staff, our volunteers and, especially, our members. There are a lot of charities out there looking to get money from the same pot, so it was amazing to receive it, and it was an amazing feeling to be able to share the news with our members.”
Eight Bells For Mental Health runs fundraising activities such as a sponsored walk and quizzes, while support from organisations such as The Greenham Trust also funds its operations.
