Celebrating Digital Leaders Funding
DIY members to become ‘Digital Leaders’ thanks to National Lottery funding
We are celebrating! DIY have been awarded £28,664 in National Lottery funding to put people with lived experience in the lead to tackle digital access for learning disabled communities in Salford and beyond.
2020 was an extremely challenging and difficult year for DIY. We had to find new ways of being and doing, of creating and connecting. We wanted to share our learning from this time and so are very excited to have been awarded this grant.
DIY Members – Experts by Experience
The new grant from the UK’s largest funder of community activity will see leaders from DIY Theatre’s existing groups develop a Digital Leaders project based on personal experiences of the challenges and barriers they have experienced in getting online. Members of DIY’s Friday Group and Young Leaders Group will work with film-maker Hilary Easter-Jones and Graphic Designer, Andrea Fanchette. DIY members will use their lived experiences to develop and create resources to support other people with learning disabilities to access the online world with confidence.
The project will be starting in March and will run for a year. Look out for the resources we create – we will be posting them on our website as well as using them with individuals and groups throughout Salford.
The Lived Experience Leaders programme
The grant is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s Lived Experience Leaders programme. On 16th Februray the Fund announced £2.5million of funding going to 49 projects across the UK. The National Lottery funding will support organisations to better embed experts by experience in all aspects of operations – including making it central to COVID-19 response, recovery and renewal – and enables the Fund and the wider sector to continue learning about how people with first-hand experience can become leaders, and how funders can support them.
Cassie Robinson, Senior Head of UK Portfolio at The National Lottery Community Fund said:
Thanks to National Lottery players, people with lived experience will use their unique expertise to lead social change and help their communities to thrive, which is vital in the response to – and looking ahead to the recovery from – COVID-19. We know that supporting those with first-hand experience to become leaders is a key enabler for civil society to do more, help more people, and for the sector to continue to make a positive impact.”
The Lived Experience Leadership programme was developed using learning and insights from the pilot programme and is a key part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s commitment to enabling civil society to be fit for the future. The programme is helping organisations and the social sector create opportunities for people with first-hand experience to be at the forefront of decision making.
National Lottery players raise £30 million a week for good causes. During 2020 The National Lottery Community Fund distributed over £650 million to community projects across the UK*.
To find out more about the National Lottery Community Fund visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
