Carer’s event podcast
Transcript

First woman: I’m Paula Torres-Silva, Regional Development Officer Big Lottery Fund. We are here at Chesterfield Fairplay Centre for a carer’s event. The event is taking place because, as a regional team, we did some research in 2011 to look at where our applications were coming from and which organisations were applying and which ones weren’t. We found that many organisations supporting carers were not applying to us. One of the reasons could be because they didn’t have enough information about funding and to help solve that problem we decided to set up a series of events and we are at one of the events today where we have got about 30 organisations here who are learning about Big Lottery Fund and the funds available to them.

First man: I’ve come along to find out more about Big Lottery grants and things like that, how to apply for them and what the grants are, what the Big Lottery people are looking for in your application form.

Second woman: Well I came along because I have had some Awards for All money in the past but I want to do more partnership working with more health and the local CCG to support carers.

With regard to carer’s services, part of the reason that carers find it very very difficult to often get out is the situation they find themselves in and quite often they’re in crisis and they can’t get the support straight away. We have tried to recruit a carer onto our management committee, onto our board of trustees, and although we have had one or two who have agreed initially, they have felt that they couldn’t commit, because of the commitment they have at home with their partners, husbands, wives, and it’s really very sad because I think they’ve got a lot that they can give, a lot of ideas that they could input, not just into the board but into the organisation.
I mean the sorts of things that carers like to do, or should I say the sorts of things that carers and their cared for have done in the past quite often can’t be facilitated and what we’ve tried to do at Care and Comfort is help the cared for and the carer do perhaps some of the things they did in the past. For instance, we had a couple, he always liked to go fishing and she always went blackberry picking and we managed to facilitate that for them. We actually sat with the gentleman on the riverbank and he caught some fish and his wife went off blackberry picking, she was the carer.

Second man: Today I thought was very interesting. I’m a very very busy parent-carer and because of that workload that I’m under, it’s difficult to look at all the niche markets and find funding and the Big Lottery I’d never even considered. Then I came into this meeting and it’s been explained to me very easily and quite concisely, and very understandably, seeing how it’s all possible to get some funding and it’s not that complicated as I always imagined it would be.

Suicide Awareness project
Transcript

First woman: Rural Community Council Leicestershire and Rutland were awarded £432,114 in May 2009 to run a project improving awareness of good mental health, especially suicide awareness. I’m here at one of the training workshops this morning to find out more.

First man: The Rural Community Council first got involved in this sort of work back about ten years ago when there was a foot and mouth crisis in England and Wales. Research following that pointed to a significant rise in the suicide rate for farmers and agricultural workers. We were fortunate and successful in gaining funding from the government to set up a rural stress support team which provided a telephone and befriending service to those in distress in rural areas. On the back of that, we became involved in the local suicide prevention strategy group and were subsequently invited to develop suicide awareness training.
I think suicide awareness training is very important; one of the barriers to those that may need to seek help for their emotional difficulties is the attitude around the subject in society as a whole, in that it is generally referred to, people think of suicide as perhaps being the coward’s way out, a selfish act, whatever that might be. Which, given that’s the likely response, I think it can be a barrier to those who need to seek help from seeking help. So we have these sessions where we encourage people to think about this issue, about their own attitudes as well as the attitudes in society, in the hope that can help break down barriers and remove stigma.

Second man: I came on today’s training because I’m currently a counsellor at a college in Loughborough and I thought it would help with my awareness of some of the issues that some of our students face.

Second woman: In terms of the actual delivery of the training, groups are always really interested, really engaged and really involved. I think the thing that always surprises me the most is how much people enjoy coming on suicide training. You’d think it was a morbid and miserable subject but actually people are fascinated to hear about how we can help and what places people at risk of taking their own life. They really do go away feeling quite positive after a training session and hopefully they’ll take that into their workplace and feel a bit more comfortable with the idea.

Third woman: It brings together a lot of the knowledge they already have so a lot of it is information that you already know but brings it together, reinforces it. It was also interesting how you do, you bring it into the open, and you talk about it and it’s not something, you don’t avoid those words when talking to somebody about it.

Second man: One of the big things that came out of the whole thing was the theme of loss of identity seemed to be parallel with a lot of people who were suicidal. The loss of purpose in people’s lives, particularly for older people.

Third woman: I think mostly it will be used to signpost young people. I think a lot of things that we’ve seen are looking at the initial signs of people suffering from depression or they’re going through a difficult phase so a lot of it will be just dealing with those issues but digging deeper, asking questions, and discovering a bit more about if someone is likely to be suicidal and then having a bit of knowledge and signposting from that.

Second man: I think it will practically help by giving me more confidence when presented with the issues of suicide in some of the clients that I will see. I think, before, my natural reaction would be one of panic and just not feeling that comfortable with it and now I feel more comfortable if I’m presented with that issue with a client.

First man: Suicide is everybody’s business. None of us know who it’s going to affect. Most people that attend the training here do so because of their employment role but we could be talking about their family, their colleagues at work, their next door neighbour, whatever. Suicide is a permanent solution to a problem that is short term. Suicide itself is not the problem; it’s what’s behind a person’s thoughts about taking their own life that is the problem, whether that be debt, relationships, loss of job, whatever, that’s what we need to tackle to stop people taking their own lives.

Transcript:

Being a parent is hard work, but it’s even tougher for people with complex needs. In 2010 Homestart Nottingham received a grant for £261,543 from Big Lottery Fund to run a project offering support to parents with learning disabilities or mental health issues. We spoke to the project leaders, Sharon a parent and her volunteer mentor Sam, to find out more. . .

First female:
The project has enabled us to support parents who just need that little bit extra. There’s no typical Home Start family and there’s no typical family within the project. There’s a range of parents who need the support. We’ve got families who are very articulate, not disadvantaged in the way that a lot of people would think are disadvantaged but through mental health issues really are struggling with the whole concept of being a parent.

Second female:
I became involved with Home Start due to having additional needs in the form of mental illness, bipolar disorder. Certainly when I was pregnant and nearing childbirth there were quite high risks for post-partum psychosis. After I’d had the baby I was put in touch with Home Start.

I haven’t got my parents any more, both my parents have passed away and I haven’t got a large family so I started having a volunteer, Sam, who came to visit me and would help me to get out of the house and take my son to the park and do things with him.

Third female:
I’ve been a volunteer for Home Start for three and a half years. I decided that I wanted to become a volunteer to help somebody because I was a teenage mum and I’d got brilliant support around me and a great mum and dad and all the babysitting and time off that anyone could wish for as a young mum. So something in me wanted to give that to somebody who didn’t have that.

So I’ve been doing it for three and a half years and now I’m with Sharon and helping her in whatever she needs me to do really, and it’s multiple different things that we do together.

Second female: You tend to see what I need on the day, don’t you?

Third female: Yeah.

Second female: You’re very led by what my needs are, which is really good. It’s not rigid support, it’s very fluid and it goes with what the person needs. I think if that wasn’t there then for me; my potential is that I would get unwell so that’s what I’m guarding against – a spiral of becoming unwell and a hospital admission and not being with my son. So if I’m perhaps low in mood and not doing a lot, Sam comes round and we will go out and that just stops the rot.

First female: We already support parents in mainstream Home Start with post-natal depression but it was those longer term chronic conditions like bipolar, like schizophrenia, personality disorder, where we were acutely aware that those parents did need something more than what we would normally be able to give them. It is about flexibility, it’s about being creative with the type of support that we can give. So our very non-judgemental way of working with families is what they’re attracted to, it’s what they like about Home Start. We’ve got that stickability, the support that we give them is not time limited. Home Start can be there and we are there for years with the same family and that is the fundamental difference between what we do and any other agency that’s out there supporting families and young children.

Fourth female: It’s unique. What we offer is unique, there’s nothing else out there like this.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hi. My name is Emily and I am the Campaign Manager of Life in my Shoes at Body & Soul.

2012 I’m really looking forward to because it’s the year that we release the campaign film Undefeated and the educational resource, and I’m just excited to see how it’s received.

Hi. My name is Isabella; I’ve been working on the campaign Life in my Shoes for some time, and I hope 2012 will be a year of change for people particularly living with HIV, but for other people as well, for everyone.

Hello. My name is Peter and I help out on the Life in my Shoes campaign. For 2012 I hope people will start to understand how it feels to live with HIV, but also understand that people are hiding, and be confident enough to help people, and join the revolution, join us together and be part of us.

(Return to Isabella) I hope 2012 will bring a change of attitudes towards those living with HIV, and I hope that Life in my Shoes reaches as many young people as possible. It’s beyond living with HIV, it’s feeling different, it’s being bullied for stuff that you can’t help, and I’m sure everyone can relate to that, whether you live with HIV or not.

Podcast transcript: Interview with Sir Adrian Webb 2 February 2012

It’s all about enthusiastically but wisely investing our money to make a real difference to people and places.

That was the voice of Sir Adrian Webb, the new Chair of the Big Lottery Fund in Wales describing what BIG means to him. Sir Adrian says he is excited about his new role and outlines his aspirations for a big future.

We just start by saying we’ve got to keep this going. It’s already very successful and has done a huge amount of work and a great benefit to Wales in many ways for many years so I think the starting point is continuity. But there is a big difference between now and even the recent past in that we are now facing huge economic stress in the UK and Europe and that is resulting in large numbers of people unemployed - huge number of young people unemployed. We’ve got major changes in things like the welfare benefit system which will cause great uncertainty for many people and, given that kind of background, I think it is even more important that the Wales’ committee ensures that the money we have available makes a real impact for people and for communities in Wales in what are really are very hard and distressing times. Going beyond that, the important thing is that we have a freedom to be innovative. We have the opportunity to do things that are different and for me that’s one of the great attractions of being here - which is a great thrill and honour for me- it’s one of the great attractions I think of an organisation like BIG which has significant sums and the ability to do things differently and to explore ways of helping people, helping communities and perhaps also linking many of the organisations that are out there so they can make a bigger impact together than they can make singly.

The former Vice Chancellor of Glamorgan University has already made a huge difference in his career and now, through his new role, he is looking forward to make a difference to Welsh communities most in need.

That continues to be for me a reason for getting up every morning. Here we have a country with some huge needs and also a very fine history and tradition but the opportunity to try and address some of the disadvantage in Wales is a fundamental reason for being. So yes I’m very excited about the opportunity to be involved as I say in a programme which is not massive but which is substantial - after all we’re spending what is it £100,000 a day in Wales which is not small potatoes - but we can do it intelligently, we can do it in ways that other organisations can’t; we can hit the kinds of problems or we can hit problems in a way that other organisations can’t. So it that sense I think we can punch much above our weight to make a difference and particularly to make a difference to communities, yes, but to individuals across Wales who are facing hard times, have been disadvantaged, lack opportunity or perhaps lack the confidence to take the opportunities that there are.

Finally, Sir Adrian gave a glowing endorsement of the way the Big Lottery Fund is operating in Wales.

The overriding impression is commitment, excitement, passion. There really is a sense among all the people that I’ve met that they are doing a job that is worthwhile and they’re doing a job that is worthwhile because the Big Lottery Wales committee is applying money in a way that is worthwhile and is making a difference.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Fleur:

I was basically a victim of domestic violence for a number of years. The problems that started were that I was becoming very withdrawn and my children started to act up. It had been quite an arduous experience with years of therapists and different people, and it made me retreat into a place where I didn’t want to expose the issues. I became quite withdrawn and insular.

Then I met Elfrida Rathbone. I was referred from a place called a place called Tavistock. They just empowered me to feel positive again. It has given me self-confidence and has made me feel like we are working together in a way that is not looking down on you, but focusing on the strengths and trying to empower you. The effect it has had on my children has been absolutely overwhelming. My children didn’t want to go to school – they were at risk of expulsion because they were acting up because they didn’t know what was going on. Now they are in school every day and it is because I have become a firmer and better parent and because I am not feeling so down.

I have also been referred to Citizen’s Advice Bureau because I had debts. That was something I had completely ignored, the letters were piling up and piling up and before I had seen Elfrida Rathbone I just didn’t want to acknowledge it as I thought I had to focus on my family.

It seems like a fairytale but it really has had an amazing effect on me. It will have major benefits for families that get involved, because some families can fall between the cracks of a lot of organisations where they don’t quite fit the remit. But these will take on anyone – they are going to help you and they definitely don’t judge you. I have felt supported, it really is the best place. I will be an advocate for it forever, it’s amazing.

Alexis Keir:

Elfrida Rathbone has been involved in delivering family support and parenting services for a long time, working with the London Borough of Camden. We have done that through group work, one-to-one work, going out to families and directly engaging both with children and parents about parenting skills and the need for added community resources.

For Improving Futures, we have joined our skills with those of some other organisations within the borough so we have a really strong partnership. We are making it easy for families who will have several very significant problems and who won’t have anyone helping them. We are giving them quick and easy access, not just to one service, but once they are in the doors of Camden Futures, whether it be for family support or debt and benefit advice, we can quickly refer them across to other parts of the partnership.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hi, my name’s Luke Lancaster. I’m aged 16, and the founder and CEO of Young Pioneers, the charity that I founded to help young people overcome adversity and lead change.

For me, 2012 will be a key year. We’re hoping to scale up our big project, Be Healthy, and roll it out nationally to support young people across the UK. And at the same time we’ll be focussing on our Social Investment and Franchise Scheme for young people to help them start their own business.

It will be a challenging year. The economy is not good for young people, and more and more young people are living in poverty, and this year will be challenging for them.

But we can make a difference, we can deliver skill-based programmes that will help these young people become self-sufficient and help them become successful in life.

I hope 2012 will be a year when we can encourage more young people to be healthy and work with us to set up and run our big Be Healthy programme in their area, and earn income from doing that.

My aspirations are to equip young people, not only with the skills to be healthy, but also the skills to earn a living and be successful. I predict that by the end 2012, we will have worked with over 2000 young people, teaching them to be healthy, showing everyone that it’s cool to care.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

My name is Maureen McGinn, and I have just become the Chair of the Big Lottery Scotland Committee, and a member of the UK board.

My aspiration for 2012 would be that we work with people in communities and organisations to release the potential, and to help people achieve their vision of what they want, and to make their community better or to help change lives.

Whatever happens over the course of the next year, the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland, and in the UK, will continue to support people, individuals, communities, and using the same professionalism, integrity, humanity, passion - and will do that whenever possible, in partnership with others, both in the statutory sector, and in the funding sector that share our ambitions, and that share our aspirations.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

I’m Stephen Singleton, and I’m the Chief Executive of the Suffolk Foundation.

My predictions for 2012, and I don’t think that I’d be alone in thinking this, is that the economic conditions over the coming year will continue to be extremely challenging for the Voluntary Sector, and for society at large.

I think there will be increased demand for charitable services as hardship bites, and related challenges for voluntary organisations who will be seeking funding, not only to maintain their services, but to potentially increase them.

However, despite these difficulties, I cannot see any charities closing their operations – it’s a well known fact that the Charitable Sector are a resilient lot.

As for hopes and aspirations - as a dealer in hope, I am optimistic that the voluntary sector will meet the challenges facing it, and continue to play an increasingly important role in society.

I am equally hopeful that as statutory funders balance their books, they will not see the voluntary sector as a soft option for funding cuts and disproportionately reduce their budgets for the voluntary sector.

Equally I’m hopeful that funding from all sources is seen as an endorsement, an investment, and a vote for confidence, rather than an expectation. But most of all I have great confidence in our communities responding to the challenges that lay ahead.

For us at the Suffolk Foundation, that means developing philanthropy to support good causes.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

I’m Sheila Ravenscoft, and I’m patron of the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts. I’m also one of the directors and leader of events and cleaner of toilets, and everything else (laughs).

When we took the building over there was nothing here at all – it was disused. There was no lighting, no heating, no nothing.

Phase Two, which was the £50, 000 from the Lottery helped us put in the lighting, temporary heating. It made the building usable – and we have used it. We’ve put on quite a lot of events, gigs, exhibitions.

Next year we start Phase Three, which is a huge project, which is a massive headache, but we’re going to do it. By the end of 2012, it’s going to be the most amazing building. It’s amazing now, but it’s going to be even more amazing in that it’s going to be of so much use to so many different pockets of the community.

People, when they see John’s name on it, they think it’s all about loud music and they have got to learn it isn’t, because it’s about everything. It is for the community, all ages – it doesn’t matter who you are, and will actually, I really, really feel, will put this corner of Suffolk on the map.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hello, I’m Ruth Shelton, Chief Executive of Emmanuel House Day Centre in Nottingham.

My hope for new year is, I’ve got two, if that’s alright. One is that the government will recognise the need for appropriate affordable accommodation for all which is people’s right.

Secondly that the work of day centres in the country will be recognised generally, and that day centres will be funded, so that how you spend your day is as important as how you spend your night.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

My name’s Peter Ainsworth. I’m Chair of the UK Big Lottery Fund, and my hope for this year is, first of all that’s it’s not as bad as I think it’s likely to be - I think it’s going to be a very difficult year.

My hope as far as BIG is concerned is that we can continue despite the Government’s pressure on our costs, despite the fact that we’re losing some of money back to the other good causes, we can continue to deliver really high quality services.

Demand for what we do has never been higher that it is – it’s only going to grow this year, and our job is to continue to make life better for those communities and people most in need in times which are going to be very testing for them, and very testing for us.

But I’m confident that we can do that.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

I’m Peter Wanless, and I’m the Chief Executive of the Big Lottery Fund.

With challenges and change swirling everybody at the present time, my ambition for the Big Lottery Fund in 2012 is keep us focussed on the fundamentals of what will best enable great people and great organisations to achieve lasting positive impact in their communities.

I want us constantly to be looking up and looking out, backing those with the insight and the ability to mobilise those around them.

On a personal level, I’m looking forward to Somerset County Cricket Club winning the County Championship for the first time. Hey, some things never change!

UPDATE

The Big Lottery Fund has extended its Heroes Return 2 programme. The programme has no fixed deadline for applications at this time.

This extension is for those veterans who have so far been unable to undertake a commemorative visit. So that as many veterans as possible get this opportunity, we can only fund one visit for each veteran, widow or widower. This means that if a veteran has already received funding for a commemorative visit since April 2009, we would not be able to fund a second visit.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to the Big Lottery Fund podcast.

Big Lottery Fund: These are the inspirational voices of the Tenovus Sing for Life choir who was among the 30 Welsh groups sharing in £20 million from the Big Lottery Fund. Cancer has touched the lives of everyone in the choir including Angela Davies from Caerphilly who is terminally ill. Despite a daily struggle with pain, the determined 50-year-old says she is not giving up.

Angela: They gave me two years which is about three years ago, so, I’m not taking any notice of that. I have a faith and I’m not giving in, you know, I’m not giving in. I’ve got a boy of 14 who wants to be a pilot and I’m going to see him get his wings you know, so, I’m not going to give in no matter what they say.

Big Lottery Fund:: Angela was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007. After a serious operation, she underwent chemotherapy but later developed inoperable cancer. The mother-of-two admits the news almost shattered her spirit.

Angela: It got me a little bit down because I thought I’ve got to see my boy grow up, and, then I started not wanting to go out, wouldn’t get out of the house, just wanted to be with my boys – don’t leave my side, you know. I just saw myself as this thing – I wasn’t a human being anymore, you know, I was just this thing trying to survive.

Big Lottery Fund: But then Angela’s spirits were lifted, when, during her treatment and after receiving counselling from the cancer charity Tenovus, she heard about the Sing for Life choir. After some initial reluctance to join, her husband Glyn and 14-year-old son Joshua persuaded her to go.

Angela: And it was the best thing they ever did because I’ve never looked back. I’ve started to take a pride in my appearance again; as you can see I’ve put on the old Angela again, you know, the old outgoing Angela – not this shell of a person that was just sat at home waiting to die really.
For people such as myself who are going through this terrible disease – they can come to a place like this, make friends, sing, feel good. On a Thursday when we meet you can be feeling absolutely dreadful, you could have had the most awful day but you want to come here on a Thursday, you know, and when you leave you know you’re going to feel so good because a you’ve sung your lungs out and b you’ve been with all these people who love you.

Big Lottery Fund: Husband Glyn, who along with Joshua, attends the choir with Angela every week, said it had transformed her life.

Glyn: It’s been a lifeline. She’s obviously turned a corner. When somebody tells you you’ve got approximately two years to live you either receive it and curl up and die or you do something to fight back and she’s into her fourth year now thank God and thank the choir and thank Tenovus.

You have been listening to a Big Lottery Fund podcast. For more information visit http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

My name’s Pearl McKenna, I’m 77 years old and I live on the Donegal Road. I suffer from Diabetes, I have heart problems and I have severe arthritis, although I am thankfully still fairly mobile.

Christmas can be a very difficult time, to me it’s a very sad time. My husband died almost eight years ago and well that makes it a little bit more sad each Christmas because just you feel that little bit more alone. Sometimes I can get a bit down, sometimes I feel a little bit sorry for myself and find myself having a little weep.

Southcity is really, really good and they have arranged and put on so many things. Christmas is coming up and there’s so many activities being laid on for us I wonder if I’m going to have enough time to partake in all of them.

The one I’m really looking forward to is the Christmas morning on the 19th of December and we are going to have truly cinema atmosphere with all the trimmings, the popcorn, and we are going to get surprises and the film we are going to watch is A Wonderful Life.

You are mixing with friends, you are not isolated, you are not wondering what you are going to do from day to day. We have Christmas dinner and we have two visits to St George’s Market organised as well and I’m really looking forward to it.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to the Big Lottery Fund podcast

Presenter: Welcome to the South West podcast. This month we hit the waves with beach based project with Surf Action. Surf Action is a pioneering project that uses the beach environment to help the well-being of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and with an award of over £49,000 from the People’s Millions programme, Surf Action has been able to increase their programmes to further focus on improving the condition with those with post traumatic stress. So let’s here from the veterans themselves.

Presenter: Trevor, when did you join the army?

Man 1: 7th October 1964 believe it or not.

Presenter: You have suffered from PTSD

Man 1: You find 90% of soldiers, when they get into action, they actually enjoy it, it’s a good crack but when you’ve left and it usually starts to happen, well in my experience about between five to ten years afterwards. Gradually things start coming back to you. Quite often something would happen and I’d get incredibly angry very quickly. I was a little bit worried how I would react if someone say would come up to me and tap me on the shoulder or put their arms round me. I would, I thought at times, I could quite easily kill them without even thinking about it. That is probably the most worrying thing and that is what I think quite a few people don’t want to talk about but they do exhibit these symptoms.

Presenter: How does it affect yours and other people’s life, work, relationships?

Man 1: Well it’s not that much the person themselves, it’s the family and it’s very difficult for the partner to appreciate it unless you’ve actually been through it and no matter how close or how long you have been married, they’ve not actually done it themselves. And of course you then get blame - one blames the other, blames the other and you get marriage breakups and family breakups. This why Surf Action tries to get the families in as well. And once you are starting to share something once you’ve shared the same experience, you then start pulling things together again.

Presenter: Can you describe the kind of feeling you get when you are surfing, why does it help you?

Man 1: Because you are in a totally alien environment, in the sense that you are in the water, you’re in the sea. When you are on the surface of the sea and you are surfing it is up and down it’s like plugging yourself into a huge great dynamo or battery and you can feel it underneath you. It’s almost it’s almost like womb-like feeling, it comforts you yet when the wave comes in you know you got to you can’t fight it you actually have to use it and once you’ve got the knack, suddenly you’re flying, you are literally flying and the feeling is euphoric. You come out of it YES, I’ve discovered life and it puts a big smile on your face.

Presenter: So you feel you still suffer from PTSD?

Man1: I have it yeh, but I can control it. People with PTSD that can’t control it, they’re the ones who then suffer, they then withdraw into their shell. If you can confront it, which is what surfing helps, it diverts your mind away from it. Well, if I can do this, I can get out of PTSD.

Presenter: And finally would you recommend this to other people?

Man 1: Absolutely! Completely! It’s marvellous!

Presenter: I also spoke to Mike. How has Post Traumatic Stress affected you?

Man 2: I have had flashbacks in the past. A lot of it was you know disturbed sleep, panic attacks sometimes. That seems, that’ll come and go

Presenter: And I presume its affected your whole life.

Man 2: I guess so. For me it’s been quite difficult because I’ve had an alcohol problem and that’s buried everything else, I think, dealing with the alcohol problem allowed me to kind of look at this as well

Presenter: Were you able to surf before you started coming here?

Man 2: No. I’d lived in Cornwall before and I had no, no ambitions to surf

Presenter: Can you explain the feeling you get when you’re surfing and why it helps?

Man 2: Yeah, I mean for me, the surfing on its own, is a really kind of in the moment thing - you know, that’s all you are thinking about, which is great. But for me, as well, there’s whole sort of social aspect of it that’s really important, you know, because I became really isolated before.

Presenter: Would you recommend this to other people?

Man2: Yeah definitely. A lot of it, for me, has been like getting a lot of my self-confidence back and self-esteem as well, and getting and me out of the house and doing stuff.

Presenter: I also spoke to Russell Pierre, one of the directors of Surf Action.

Why did you start the charity in the first place?

Man 3: Well, Rich Emerson started it because he served in the first Gulf war, in the Tank Regiment, so he was in the first Desert Storm and as a result of that he had PTSD.

Presenter: How is it benefitting the people that attend?

Man 3: It gives the guys, and their families a break from the things that they are going through, it’s great camaraderie and more than anything it is a positive environment to be round so in that respect I think it really helps.

Presenter: And what difference did the lottery funding make?

Man 3: Oh my god, the difference the lottery funding made. It basically allowed us to still be here, still to be doing what we are doing. I mean initially we set our milestones to do to run six surf camps, but it’s helped us do so much more than that. Since February, we started the weekly clinics. It’s allowed us to buy forty brand new wetsuits, nice warm winter wets suits, it’s allowed us to buy new boards, specific boards for amputees which have been fantastic. It’s allowed us to do more marketing. Yeah, it we are still here because of it.

Presenter: What an inspirational project. You can really see how much this is helping the guys involved. If you want to find out more or get involved with this project you can get more information on their website at www.surfaction.org.uk and you can find out more about our People’s Millions Programme by visiting www.peoplesmillions.org.uk

You have been listening to a Big Lottery Fund podcast . For more information please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

TRANSCRIPT OF PODCAST

Deirdre Baker, Big Lottery Fund NI, Head of Planning and Support: I’m Deirdre Barker from the Big Lottery Fund. We’re here today at the HEART project, helping them run a health action day for about 200 people from the local community.
So there’s about 22 of us here today and we’re hoping to talk to the people who come along, we’re going to help with evaluating what the day’s doing for them, so hopefully it’ll be really enjoyable for everybody.

Liz McShane, Manager of the HEART project: My name’s Liz McShane, I’m manager of the Maureen Sheehan Centre, I work for the HEART project.
Today we’re having a joint male and female health day where people can come along and have health checks done to see if they are at the early stages of any disease such as heart problems, diabetes, any lung diseases, respiratory diseases and also have a few little perks along the way like having a massage done, having a barber here to cut their hair, and just have a bit of craic overall.
The Big Lottery Fund are great. They are helping us out doing evaluations, they’re standing at the door making sure everyone is coming in and getting a tracker sheet, having their BMI and height and weight done. As you can see the crowds here today it’s really useful to have had the help of the Lottery staff.

Man (unnamed) attending the health event: I’m from south Belfast, I’ve suffered from a lot of depression and anxiety over the years, was injured in the Troubles in the early '70s, and have had different things in my life that have affected me, but I’m always looking to pick up tips, like here today through the Voluntary Service Bureau where I got the information to come along.

Woman (unnamed) attending the event: I have diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol which all have been diagnosed through the Maureen Sheehan Centre. So every time this thing’s on I come over the get a check, when things like this are going on you meet people and it’s far better.

Jacqui, staff member from the HEART project: A lot of people don’t like going to their doctors, they are afraid of going to their doctors, so here it’s a very informal way of getting health checks done.
I look around me and it’s the same people that come to the health days year in year out because they find it a good place to come and find out if they are being healthy and their bloods are on track.

Mary Lindsay, Big Lottery Fund NI staff member: My name’s Mary Lindsay and I work in Big Lottery Fund and we were invited here today to do a spot of volunteering.
So the morning has been very successful, there’s a really good turnout, it’s been great to be involved and actually get the opportunity to talk to people and find out why it is they’re attending today and what they have found very useful.
It’s very nice to get out of the office, it’s actually quite ‘freeing’ to be out and chatting to people, especially with a project we have funded and to see the benefits it brings to this community. It’s been a very enjoyable day.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hello, and welcome to the Big Lottery Fund podcast.

Big Lottery Fund: Through our Heroes Return programme the Big Lottery Fund has awarded over £25 million to more than 50,000 World War 2 veterans, widows, spouses and carers across the UK to return to where they or a family member saw service.

Remembrance Sunday gives people time to reflect on the great sacrifice our veterans made for us.

Doug Mayman is travelling back to Lucheux, Normandy in April with his daughter to retrace his steps using World War II diaries that he kept. His tells us his experience of war, and why he wants to go back to where he saw service.

Doug Mayman “I landed as a member of the 15th 19th Kings Royal Hussares ex cavalry regiment now a light fast tank regiment well trained in overland manoeuvres. Landed at Orange Beach in August 1944. And the village we were in was called Grouches-Luchuel.

We were there, it turned out, not for a short time because there were so many tanks that had been hit that the recovery vehicles took a long time to get to us, and we were there for a fortnight or more. During which time we were the only foreign people in that village and we got to know the villagers, some of them quite well. A lady in the farm let us sleep in her barn and we met several of the other villagers there.

One particular lady we met was a lady called Vera Brown, who had acted as a double agent, and she told us all about the German occupation of that village. So, part of our trip would definitely to go back to that village to see if anyone remembers us. I shall certainly remember enough of it even though it’s a long time ago.

So, but going back is not to gloat over memories of the war, in that I don’t particularly want to think it was glorious fighting, but we had it to do. And what it will mean to me is if I can find people in the village. What will help me is that I wrote a diary every day, and I have these and that will tell me exactly where I was at different times throughout the whole of my fighting, so I’ll have no difficulty refinding, even after all this time, the places where I wish to go.

At this point I feel it fitting to pay tribute to all the other members of our regiment. I think we were very lucky, contrary to what is often popular belief, we had tremendous respect for, and trust in our officers. They all led from the front. They were all excellent people and as far as my own rank were concerned, we were all conscripted and not professional fighters yet there was a tremendous amount of bravery camaraderie there. And it’s because of all that I look forward to going back those areas and being not necessarily the battles of the time, but by going paying some sort of tribute to those like myself who were caught up in the war, and did their best to make sure they didn’t let the side down.

Big Lottery Fund: Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive Peter Wanless talks about what Heroes Return means to him and the Big Lottery Fund.

Peter Wanless: “Heroes Return is very many people’s favourite Big Lottery Fund programme. It enables individuals who secured freedoms which all of us benefit from in this day and age. As we approach Remembrance Sunday, I always think about my granddad who participated in the D-Day landings, and when I was growing up, he used to talk to me about those extraordinary experiences. He died before the Heroes Return programme came in being. I really wish he’d had the chance to benefit from a trip of this kind.

The thanks that we get from many of the individuals who participated in this programme is incredible. I have personally received incredibly moving letters, very often handwritten in painstaking fashion setting out the emotions and the actions which people have gone through on these trips. It is humbling to receive these thanks really, because to be quite frank, it’s the least these heroes deserve.”

Big Lottery Fund: Ted Hedges, who served in RAF Coastal Command, hunting for the U-Boats targeting allied convoys talks to us about his trip back to the Azores, funded through Heroes Return.
Before he left in 1944, the Americans had started work in conjunction with our forces to build an air force base which is now an important NATO base.

Ted Hedges: “The primary task of visiting my friends, or friends left in the cemetery. It is really difficult to explain to anyone how you feel at such a time. You still see their faces; you still hear their voices, and the times that you spent together, some perhaps only a few weeks. They never die, they’re always there. And to walk round and visit each grave, that is in the cemetery today, and there are 47 graves there, is something which you need to do.

When I left the cemetery there was no doubt that I had the feeling that as long as I remember them, they were still living in memory.

I visited the cemetery three times. The last time I left in tears.

For the last ten years, in conjunction with a Canadian I have assisted in writing a book about the activities of the Fortress squadrons in the Azores and the purpose of that book was to record the very great sacrifice that each of those people made, and also that as long as there is a record of what they carried out, what they affected, then they are still living in our, us survivors memories.”

Big Lottery Fund: If you or someone you know, is interested in applying to the Heroes Return programme please contact our advice line on 0845 00 00 121, or visit the website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn.

But hurry, the deadline for applications is 31 January 2012 for journeys up until 31 December 2012. Grants covering the travel costs associated with such trips range from £150 to roughly £5,500.

You can subscribe to the Big Lottery Fund podcast on iTunes or you can follow us on Twitter @BigLotteryFund or if you like us, like us on our Facebook page!

If you have any comments or feedback on this podcast, please email us at: audio.visual@biglotteryfund.org.uk

READ THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE PODCAST

He witnessed firsthand the brutality and cruelty of his captors and struggled for survival in the notorious Japanese Prisoner of War camps in Indonesia during the Second World War. Sixty six years later on Remembrance Day, Airman David Arthur Harries from Carmarthenshire shares his memories after being reunited with the few surviving prisoners of war during a special event funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return Programme.
After being captured by the Japanese in Java in 1942, David was among prisoners sent to Malang to repair and airfield. It was here he was given an unwanted taste of the brutality which lay ahead.

At that stage there was very little abuse but we had an incident in Malang when four people - some say they attempted to escape other people said they simply went down to the town to buy some stuff. They were brought back and they were horribly beaten for a week and then they were executed. It gave us an insight into another side of the Japanese character of how ruthless they could be. The whole exercise was a performed as a warning – not to attempt to escape.

During his three years of captivity, David endured appalling, cramped and filthy conditions with limited food and water on ships and while living in makeshift prison camps such as old school buildings.

The school might have held 500 people and two or 3,000 prisoners were put in there and you just had to find a place to sleep. It might sound quite impossible discussing it rationally today but these kind of things happened and you had to make the best of it – you had no choice.

It was the beginning of the rainy season when they got to Haruku, where they would remain for over 16 months with David describing this time as his worst experience.

The camp of Haruku consisted of a couple of shacks and we put the desperate sick in these shacks. At the same time we were up to our knees in mud – we slept on the earth in the rain. The first few weeks in Haruku were absolutely desperate and the death rate soared and then we were expected to work on the airfield. When we got up to the airfield we were given a chisel and a hammer and the airfield consisted of two small hills and the tops of the hills had to be removed. And if you can imagine what you can do with a hammer and chisel – the whole thing was absolutely ridiculous and impossible.

Hundreds of prisoners were now starving to death or dying from dysentery or malaria.

Anyway, by this time, the dysentery rate had soared to such an extent that 90 per cent of people were affected including myself. The death rate continued to increase. By the time that construction was made many hundreds of people had died of dysentery. I had been nine stone seven. I suppose I was, at that time, down to seven or eight stone, you know, you lost weight because you weren’t having food. Those were the horrific circumstances of being in a prison camp. During the worst periods you’d get as many as a dozen people dying in a day and you’d have a mass grave. I don’t know how they did it but when I went back 40 years later and visited the cemetery in Ambon every person had a headstone. Whether there’s a body underneath I very much doubt it – it would have been impossible.

Towards the end of the three years, David was taken to Makassar Island before heading off in a small boat to Surabaya in Java. The war was over by this point and after arriving in Jakarta on the 17th of august 1945, David walked out of the camp a free man.

We got to Batavia (Jakarta) on the 8th of August and on the 17th of August, despite strict instructions to the contrary, I walked out of the camp. The survivors, including myself, must have been very hardy – don’t ask me how or why but we survived.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to the Big Lottery Fund podcast.

Big Lottery Fund: The UK’s aging population means that it’s more important than ever to recognise older people’s contribution to our society. But research has found that many people associate getting old with loneliness and long-term illness. The Big Lottery Fund has announced that it is investing £110 million pounds in older people. This is launching in October with the £10 million ‘Silver Dreams Fund’ in association with the Daily Mail. England Director Dharmendra Kanani explains how the Silver Dreams Fund works.

Dharmendra: The Big Lottery Fund is really interested in investing in older people because we what we’d like to do by adding value as a lottery distributor is to promote and celebrate the positive aspect of ageing and understand actually older people have a lot to contribute and let’s turn the negative into a positive, so that will be the litmus tend of this fund is that actually is it positively portraying older people in England today, is it using older people as an inspiration and a source of inspiration to provide the solutions and are they at the heart of the solutions of the projects that are being devised, that’s what we want the sliver dreams fund to be about.

Big Lottery Fund: Big has already funded many inspiring older people’s projects. Men In Sheds is a project run by Age Concern in Exeter. The idea was to get older men involved in practical activities that they could do together. This group of about 20 guys meet in a garden shed to restore garden tools that are then sent off to a charity working in Africa.

Big Lottery Fund: Age Concern Exeter noticed that older men were not engaging with many of the activities they provided. So in 2009 they were awarded over £4000 under our Awards For All programme. Men In Sheds is now one of the projects that Age Concern now provides thanks to the Lottery funding.

It’s a project designed for men and is run by men. They currently have 18-20 members and they meet – as the name suggests – in a shed; collecting and restoring tools that have fallen into disrepair. So let’s find out what they’re up to.

Well, it’s pretty noisy in here. Everyone’s busy sanding and grinding and scraping and chatting... there’s a lovely atmosphere, actually. People just kind of getting on and doing a job but socialising at the same time.

Malcolm runs this project. Can you just explain, Malcolm, what Men In Sheds is about?

Malcolm: Men In Sheds is an activity where we get together – old chaps who have retired or live alone or have nothing to do – and they come along to our little workshop and in an environment of men and tea and biscuits and workshops, we clean up tools, sharpen them and renovate and refurbish them. Most of them are then packed into kits and they are sent off to various countries in Africa where they will be used again for several generations.

Big Lottery: And why was this project started?

Malcolm: Because Age Concern have extremely good facilities for elderly people to sit in rooms and sing songs and chat and enjoy themselves, and 90% of the females that go to these things love them. They’ve had a good day out, a good chat and a good gossip... You’ll find that most men of this age group really find it rather difficult. They would much rather be involved in doing something. Especially something that they’ve probably been part of for the past 40 or 50 years of their lives. So this was started with the idea of getting men into an environment which they could enjoy and relax and discuss all the things of life.

Ray: My name is Ray Woodland. I’ve got a box of old pliers, and so what I do: I check them over, and what I do, is I get a wire brush and clean them off, then I put a thin coat of oil on the pliers to keep them looking good.

Big Lottery: What difference does this make to your life, coming here?

Ray: Well, I’ve been coming here roughly about a year. I get disability living allowance and my doctor said it would be a good idea if I come to Age Concern and they put me onto this project and from a health point of view, meeting the other friends that I’ve made here makes me feel real good. Because you have a laugh, you have cup of tea and a biscuit, and you’re under no pressure. And the atmosphere is so relaxed that you can get on and do the proper job. I must admit, since I’ve been coming here, I’ve really benefitted because of the people I’ve met here. They’re really lovely to me and this helps my wellbeing. And also, it makes me feel good that I’m trying to help other people.

Big Lottery: Would you miss it if it wasn’t here?

Ray: I don’t know where I’d be. I look forward each week to coming and if it wasn’t here, I would be a very sad person. It makes everything worthwhile; it makes everything worthwhile to do it...

Big Lottery Fund: One Show presenter Angela Rippon is keen to support BIG’s investment in older people. Angela talks about her experiences of being a TV presenter who is now in her 60s.

Angela: From a personal point of view apart from one famously recorded incident where John Birt who was then the Director General of the BBC told me Angela you have to accept you’ve had your day and it’s time that you let the younger women come behind you have their opportunity, apart from that which happened 17 years ago I’m still here and he’s not, so I think that says it all really.

Most of my friends because we’re of the generation, the can do generation who are now in our 60’s and 70’s we still in our heads are 30 and unless your unfortunate enough that ill health or an accident in some way reduces your ability to do something, I think young people don’t recognise when they are 20 or 30, is that when you get to 50 or 60 providing your still relatively fit and active and you still get a huge amount of enjoyment out of life in your head you are still 30, you still think of course I can still do that and you do it.

So, no, I don’t think my generation has that feeling that we hit 60, 50 or even 70 and its time to hang up your ski boots or stop going swimming, or stop hiking, you know just hang everything up and sit in the rocking chair and watch the TV, it’s not in our nature to do that because we didn’t do it when we were growing up, we didn’t do it when we were maturing and we sure as heck ain’t going to do it now.

Big Lottery Fund: So what are Angela’s reflections on getting older?

Angela: The best thing about being older is having years of experience behind you, to know what’s right and what’s wrong. The funniest thing about older is that there isn’t much that is funnier about it. Bet Davis said getting old isn’t for wimps, she is absolutely right. The most inspiring person I know is Joan Bakewell. If there is one thing I could change about attitudes towards older people it would reminding younger people that they’re going to be old one day, get used to it.

Big Lottery Fund: If you’re interested in applying to the Silver Dreams Fund or would like further information please visit our website. If you have any comments or feedback on this podcast, please email us at: audio.visual@biglotteryfund.org.uk or you can follow us on Twitter at biglotteryfund or if you like us, like us on our Facebook page!

You have been listening to a Bog Lottery Fund podcast, for more information please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk