By . Claire Ellicott . PUBLISHED: . 19:12 EST, 17 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 05:12 EST, 18 June 2012 . The Daily Mail and the Big Lottery Fund today award more than £6million to charities and organisations helping to improve the lives of older people. The joint initiative, known as the Silver Dreams Fund, is part of a wider campaign to distribute National Lottery grants totalling £110million to the most inspirational and worthy projects. In the spirit of this paper’s long-running Dignity for the Elderly campaign, the money will be given to causes that enhance the lives of those over 50 and recognise the contribution they make to society. Awards: Bel Mooney, centre, with Big Lottery Fund England committee member Geoff Wilkinson, back left, and Daily Mail readers Christine Squires and Marilyn Tenbeth . The first tranche of the money is today awarded to 37 voluntary and community groups in England that will receive grants of up to £200,000 each. They include a farm project to ease loneliness in rural areas and a charity to help former Gurkhas resettle in England. An appeal for nominations last October prompted an incredible response from charities and organisations which submitted nearly 1,500 applications for grants. Daily Mail columnist Bel Mooney and . three readers, David Searle, Christine Squires and Marilyn Tenbeth, . joined Lottery representatives and independent experts to decide the . winners. The panel awarded . grants of between £50,000 and £200,000 to the organisations to test and . develop innovative ideas to help older people over 12 to 18 months. Up to five of those projects, which all help those over 50 to cope with issues such as health, isolation and bereavement, will then receive up to £1million each to carry their ideas forward. The panel’s choices will help determine how the rest of the £110million, which represents the Big Lottery Fund’s biggest single investment in older people, is spent between now and 2015. The Big Lottery Fund has calculated that the money already allocated will benefit around 16,690 people directly, as well as helping 3,700 volunteers. Charities and organisations that will . receive grants include Come Dine With Us, a lunch club in Durham which . encourages healthy eating, and Care And Repair England, a charity which . helps older people ensure building work is satisfactory. Also . included is Future Roots, which helps older men in rural areas overcome . isolation and loneliness through therapeutic farming sessions, . particularly with farm animals and horticulture. Another . recipient is Winchester Area Community Action, established to improve . the lives of former Gurkhas and other Nepali elders by helping them to . settle in England. Actress Joanna Lumley, who helped Gurkhas win the right  to settle in England in 2009,  said: ‘It was so moving to read  of the Big Lottery Fund’s decision to award this project a  large grant.’ Bel Mooney, Mail writer and advice . columnist, said: ‘When I first wrote about the Silver Dreams Fund in the . Daily Mail last October I couldn’t have known just how exciting the . whole initiative would prove to be. ‘The paper followed up with other articles; readers applied to be in the judging panel; so many imaginative and important projects were made known to us. ‘As one of the committee, together . with three chosen Mail readers with wide experience in the voluntary . sector, I was amazed and impressed by the wealth of energy now being . directed towards the needs of older people and made possible by the Big . Lottery Fund. Charities and organisations that will receive grants include Care And Repair England, a charity which helps older people ensure building work is satisfactory . ‘These matters . are close to the Mail’s heart, since our Dignity for the Elderly . campaign is always on-going and we believe that a healthy society . respects its older members, acknowledging our debt and committing . ourselves to taking care of their needs.’ Nat . Sloane, chairman of the Big Lottery Fund England, said the projects . chosen ‘would value and recognise the positive contribution older people . make to society now and into the future, and provide support that meets . their needs.’ The Big . Lottery Fund, the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause . funding, has awarded £3.6billion since it was set up in 2004. Come Dine With Us - Age Concern, Durham County . Lunch clubs and community dining to encourage healthy eating. (£185,949) Royal National Institute for the Blind . Will provide old people with, or at risk of, sight loss with peer support to reduce isolation. (£199,990) Care and Repair England . Giving access to independent advice about housing and care options . (£197,352) Age UK North Tyneside . Hospital to home volunteering scheme to tackle isolation. (£199,934) The Terrence Higgins Trust . Training for OAPs who will then support others with HIV . (£200,000) SHINE . Stands for Spina Bifida, Hydrocephalus, Information, Networking, Equality - . working with a forgotten group of people who have asked for help. (£91,121) The Young Foundation - ‘Care4Care’ Developing mutual support systems for older people, who can earn ‘care credits.’ (£189,984) Compassion in Dying . A new approach to making sure vulnerable old people have support to make informed decisions about the end of life. (£139,888) The Hampton Trust (Hampshire &Isle of Wight) Called Planning for the Future, this project will help old people diagnosed with a life-limiting or terminal condition. (£192,796) Rural Action Yorkshire . A project aiming to alleviate the loneliness of old people in rural areas, especially after bereavement . (£191,912) Age Concern Barrow and District . Five community ventures including cookery club, Men in Sheds, exercise classes etc . (£193,787) Annie Mawson’s Sunbeams Music Trust . Using music as therapy and for social interaction, to help isolated old people. (£144,622) The Abbey Community Centre . Celebrating the untapped skills and experiences of old people through exchange and assistance. (£68,134) Subco Trust . Working with elderly Asian people in Newham to give them skills and confidence . (£118,386) Eccleshill Youth and Community Association . Will provide a venue where old men can meet, interact, learn skills, cope with change. (£59,364) RECOOP . Looks after the welfare of older and ex-offenders, providing information, support and encouragement. (£139,062) Scene Enterprises C.I.C. Scheme to develop a ‘buddy’ volunteer system to help deaf/blind elderly people. (£193,267) Sheffield Well-being Consortium . Will train old people to deliver a wealth of advice and activities with and for their peers. (£199,900) Derwentside Homes . Called Silver Knowledge, this project will develop a range of support services. Including a telephone befriending service. (£99,475) Derbyshire Association for the Blind . Peer support for older people experiencing sight loss. (£85,773) Volunteer Cornwall . Will provide a bereavement befriending service, helping old people through all stages. (£123,629) B:RAP . Older people who have experienced coronary heart disease will support peers through cardiac rehabilitation. (£185,436) Solent Addictions Trust . Will provide help for old people at risk from addiction to alcohol or prescription drugs . (£198,154) Aquarius Action Projects . A volunteer befriending programme targeted at old people suffering from alcohol-abuse. (£197,335) Scope . Will train a team of disabled older people to act as mentors and befrienders to their peers. (£194,259) Northern Shape . Called ‘Bird of a Feather’ this will encourage the setting up of hen houses in care homes. (£163,593) Our Celebration . Focusing on the needs f old people with mental health problems, matching them with volunteers. (£139,062 .
Joint initiative is part of wider campaign to distribute National Lottery grants totalling £110million to the most inspirational and worthy projects .
Money will be given to causes that enhance lives of over-50s and recognise the contribution they make to society .
By . Claire Ellicott . PUBLISHED: . 19:12 EST, 17 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 05:12 EST, 18 June 2012 . The Daily Mail and the Big Lottery Fund today award more than £6million to charities and organisations helping to improve the lives of older people. The joint initiative, known as the Silver Dreams Fund, is part of a wider campaign to distribute National Lottery grants totalling £110million to the most inspirational and worthy projects. In the spirit of this paper’s long-running Dignity for the Elderly campaign, the money will be given to causes that enhance the lives of those over 50 and recognise the contribution they make to society. Awards: Bel Mooney, centre, with Big Lottery Fund England committee member Geoff Wilkinson, back left, and Daily Mail readers Christine Squires and Marilyn Tenbeth . The first tranche of the money is today awarded to 37 voluntary and community groups in England that will receive grants of up to £200,000 each. They include a farm project to ease loneliness in rural areas and a charity to help former Gurkhas resettle in England. An appeal for nominations last October prompted an incredible response from charities and organisations which submitted nearly 1,500 applications for grants. Daily Mail columnist Bel Mooney and . three readers, David Searle, Christine Squires and Marilyn Tenbeth, . joined Lottery representatives and independent experts to decide the . winners. The panel awarded . grants of between £50,000 and £200,000 to the organisations to test and . develop innovative ideas to help older people over 12 to 18 months. Up to five of those projects, which all help those over 50 to cope with issues such as health, isolation and bereavement, will then receive up to £1million each to carry their ideas forward. The panel’s choices will help determine how the rest of the £110million, which represents the Big Lottery Fund’s biggest single investment in older people, is spent between now and 2015. The Big Lottery Fund has calculated that the money already allocated will benefit around 16,690 people directly, as well as helping 3,700 volunteers. Charities and organisations that will . receive grants include Come Dine With Us, a lunch club in Durham which . encourages healthy eating, and Care And Repair England, a charity which . helps older people ensure building work is satisfactory. Also . included is Future Roots, which helps older men in rural areas overcome . isolation and loneliness through therapeutic farming sessions, . particularly with farm animals and horticulture. Another . recipient is Winchester Area Community Action, established to improve . the lives of former Gurkhas and other Nepali elders by helping them to . settle in England. Actress Joanna Lumley, who helped Gurkhas win the right  to settle in England in 2009,  said: ‘It was so moving to read  of the Big Lottery Fund’s decision to award this project a  large grant.’ Bel Mooney, Mail writer and advice . columnist, said: ‘When I first wrote about the Silver Dreams Fund in the . Daily Mail last October I couldn’t have known just how exciting the . whole initiative would prove to be. ‘The paper followed up with other articles; readers applied to be in the judging panel; so many imaginative and important projects were made known to us. ‘As one of the committee, together . with three chosen Mail readers with wide experience in the voluntary . sector, I was amazed and impressed by the wealth of energy now being . directed towards the needs of older people and made possible by the Big . Lottery Fund. Charities and organisations that will receive grants include Care And Repair England, a charity which helps older people ensure building work is satisfactory . ‘These matters . are close to the Mail’s heart, since our Dignity for the Elderly . campaign is always on-going and we believe that a healthy society . respects its older members, acknowledging our debt and committing . ourselves to taking care of their needs.’ Nat . Sloane, chairman of the Big Lottery Fund England, said the projects . chosen ‘would value and recognise the positive contribution older people . make to society now and into the future, and provide support that meets . their needs.’ The Big . Lottery Fund, the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause . funding, has awarded £3.6billion since it was set up in 2004. Come Dine With Us - Age Concern, Durham County . Lunch clubs and community dining to encourage healthy eating. (£185,949) Royal National Institute for the Blind . Will provide old people with, or at risk of, sight loss with peer support to reduce isolation. (£199,990) Care and Repair England . Giving access to independent advice about housing and care options . (£197,352) Age UK North Tyneside . Hospital to home volunteering scheme to tackle isolation. (£199,934) The Terrence Higgins Trust . Training for OAPs who will then support others with HIV . (£200,000) SHINE . Stands for Spina Bifida, Hydrocephalus, Information, Networking, Equality - . working with a forgotten group of people who have asked for help. (£91,121) The Young Foundation - ‘Care4Care’ Developing mutual support systems for older people, who can earn ‘care credits.’ (£189,984) Compassion in Dying . A new approach to making sure vulnerable old people have support to make informed decisions about the end of life. (£139,888) The Hampton Trust (Hampshire &Isle of Wight) Called Planning for the Future, this project will help old people diagnosed with a life-limiting or terminal condition. (£192,796) Rural Action Yorkshire . A project aiming to alleviate the loneliness of old people in rural areas, especially after bereavement . (£191,912) Age Concern Barrow and District . Five community ventures including cookery club, Men in Sheds, exercise classes etc . (£193,787) Annie Mawson’s Sunbeams Music Trust . Using music as therapy and for social interaction, to help isolated old people. (£144,622) The Abbey Community Centre . Celebrating the untapped skills and experiences of old people through exchange and assistance. (£68,134) Subco Trust . Working with elderly Asian people in Newham to give them skills and confidence . (£118,386) Eccleshill Youth and Community Association . Will provide a venue where old men can meet, interact, learn skills, cope with change. (£59,364) RECOOP . Looks after the welfare of older and ex-offenders, providing information, support and encouragement. (£139,062) Scene Enterprises C.I.C. Scheme to develop a ‘buddy’ volunteer system to help deaf/blind elderly people. (£193,267) Sheffield Well-being Consortium . Will train old people to deliver a wealth of advice and activities with and for their peers. (£199,900) Derwentside Homes . Called Silver Knowledge, this project will develop a range of support services. Including a telephone befriending service. (£99,475) Derbyshire Association for the Blind . Peer support for older people experiencing sight loss. (£85,773) Volunteer Cornwall . Will provide a bereavement befriending service, helping old people through all stages. (£123,629) B:RAP . Older people who have experienced coronary heart disease will support peers through cardiac rehabilitation. (£185,436) Solent Addictions Trust . Will provide help for old people at risk from addiction to alcohol or prescription drugs . (£198,154) Aquarius Action Projects . A volunteer befriending programme targeted at old people suffering from alcohol-abuse. (£197,335) Scope . Will train a team of disabled older people to act as mentors and befrienders to their peers. (£194,259) Northern Shape . Called ‘Bird of a Feather’ this will encourage the setting up of hen houses in care homes. (£163,593) Our Celebration . Focusing on the needs f old people with mental health problems, matching them with volunteers. (£139,062 .
Silver Dreams Fund, is part of a wider campaign to distribute National Lottery grants totalling £110million to the most inspirational and worthy the money will be given to causes that enhance the lives of those over 50 and recognise the contribution they make to society. Awards: Bel