Archive Council News

Big Lottery donation helps Wrexham’s Young People

A Hospital Youth Work Project is to receive a massive grant of £977,333 thanks to the Big Lottery Fund.

The team who put in the bid were today celebrating the news that work can now begin on a five year project to support 400 young people, aged 11-18 who arrive at hospital with self-harming behaviours. This includes drug and alcohol misuse; other mental health problems and mental disorders and where young people are at risk of serious injury and/or suicide.

The project will increase coping skills, provide diversionary activities and support the non medical needs of the young people’s emotional development by offering one to one work, group work and linking them to mainstream and specialist services.

Donna Dickinson, Senior Youth Worker for Wrexham County Borough Council said it was fantastic news and would offer help to vulnerable young people, helping them turn their lives around. She said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this money as we have felt the need for this type of project in Wrexham and the Big Lottery Fund has enabled us to make it a reality. It is great that the vulnerable young people of Wrexham will now receive this support to help them lead fulfilling lives.”

The project is to be based at Wrexham’s Maelor Hospital in Wrexham and will offer help to Wrexham’s young people, as well some youngsters from Flintshire, Denbighshire and Gwynedd.

The bid was submitted because it was urgently recognised that both nationally and locally there was a need to support young people who find themselves in a situation where they are causing themselves harm and offer them help to intervene quickly enough to prevent their situation getting any worse.

The Hospital Youth Work Team will work closely with partner agencies and organisations to ensure that young people’s needs are met.

Leader of Wrexham County Borough Council, Cllr Aled Roberts said today: “We are all absolutely delighted with the allocation of this grant. This project fits perfectly with the Council’s corporate priorities to improve health and well-being and provide first class services to children and young people. The team will be working very closely with our partners in health to ensure that young people who have previously been denied access to this type of service are given the help to get well and the support to help them re-build their lives.”