[16
JUN 99] COVENTRY UNIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE
Lottery Grant Will Provided New Services For Disabled Children In The Midlands And Their
FamiliesThe East
Birmingham Family Services Unit (EBFSU) and Coventry University's Centre for Social
Justice, have been awarded a £152,235 grant from the National Lottery Charities Board.
The grant was awarded after a highly competitive bidding
process run nationally to distribute research grants to areas of priority to the National
Lottery Charities Board.
It will fund a new service run by the EBFSU and a research
project, undertaken by Coventry University, to evaluate whether it provides real social
benefits.
The aim of the project is to improve the quality of life of
families of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin living in East Birmingham with a disabled
child. Support by trained advocates will be provided to carers (mainly parents) and their
children to access services, information and support. Research will then be undertaken to
establish the added value which advocacy and mutual support bring to the range of existing
services.
The Service will be established in the autumn, and is
funded for one year. The research will run for 18 months. This will involve in-depth
interviews with the families and professionals in health and other services used by the
family. Interviews will take place before, during and after the families finish using the
advocacy services.
Caroline Leahy, Manager of EBSFU said:
"I am delighted that this new service will be provided
to these families. I believe it will add an essential service to those already provided by
us. These include advice sessions, women's groups, under fives day care and specialist
social work.
"We know from consulting our clients how much they
welcome this project. I am also keen to receive their advice on how the service and
research project develops - so we have asked them to form a regular advisory group. This
is part of our style of service - enabling our clients to shape their services and their
lives."
Paul Bywaters, Director of the Centre for Social Justice at
Coventry University said:
"We are keen to provide high quality research that
answers real-life questions. Our research project will answer the questions the National
Lottery Charities Board is keen to see addressed. In particular, we want to know if they
new service adds value to the services provided by EBFSU and the public services used by
this disadvantaged group. We are keen to see our research make a difference to people's
lives."
MORE INFORMATION:
Professor Louise Wallace, Cyrrhian Macrae or Floyd Jebson
Coventry University 01203 838352
Caroline Leahy, EBFSU 0121 772 4217
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