BIG LOTTERY FUND GRANT                                   

The Big Lottery Fund has awarded SNIP a grant of nearly one million pounds over five years.  The grant is for the following project - SNIP Advocacy and SNIP Fife - supporting children, young people and families. 

What will the new project look like?

The Big Lottery Fund project will be made up of a number of services.  These are as follows:

• The Edinburgh-based SNIP office will expand to provide a specialist advocacy service to parents of disabled children and young people and young disabled people (aged 14 and over) themselves

• The appointment of a Young People's Information and Advocacy worker

• The establishment of a SNIP base in Fife to provide information, advice, emotional support and advocacy

This will involve the recruitment of new staff who will be trained to deliver SNIP's range of services through outreach.   We will of course continue to provide our helpline and see families at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.  These new developments are an extension of our current activities, and we believe will enhance our overall service that we provide to families. 

Timescale

Work has already begun on all of these new developments , however, it is anticipated that it will be several months before we have the various services up and running fully.  We want to make sure that we have the right staff and the right structures in place to help us deliver services of a high quality.  We will also be developing a variety of publicity material to promote the new services and these will be widely distributed.  We will keep you posted on our website and through our newsletter.

Advocacy Service

SNIP will be developing its Advocacy Service over the next few months.  We will need to recruit new staff, and existing staff will be receiving advocacy training. 

SNIP's advocacy service will be supporting parents :

• by speaking on their behalf at meetings and appointments; writing letters and liaising with involved professionals and agencies

• to prepare themselves for meetings and appointments through the development of self-advocacy

Young People's Information and Advocacy

The Young People's Information and Advocacy Worker will support young disabled people (aged 14 and over) to:

• express their wishes and engage with the various agencies and processes which feature in their lives

• develop confidence and awareness through self-advocacy

• access increased levels of support to enable them to live more independently as young adults

• access appropriate benefits and services, including Direct Payments

SNIP Fife

SNIP will establish a base in Fife to deliver its range of services to families at a local level.  This work will primarily be delivered through outreach, and will include the following:

• information

• advice

• emotional support

• awareness raising amongst practitioners of the implications for families of caring for a disabled chid or young person

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