What a Relief - at home and abroad

Prince Andrew's visit to Haxby last week to open the new Oaken Grove Community Centre was a big day for the Haxby and Wigginton Youth and Community Association.

Without the help of Comic Relief, however, the Prince might not have been there at all.

No one doubts the fund-raising antics of Red Nose Day are all for a good cause. Yet most people assume the money raised goes overseas, fighting poverty and disease in Africa.

Much of it does, but not all. This year, 40 per cent of the cash generated will go to causes closer to home, such as the young people of Haxby and Wigginton.

The youth and community association was set up with the help of a £164,000 lottery grant in 2001.

The lottery money was used to employ youth workers and administrators, and an office was set up in Haxby's Memorial Hall.

When the decision was taken to close down Oaken Grove School, the association asked if it could use part of the school building for a new community centre.

City of York Council agreed and spent £250,000 refurbishing the building. But without a £20,000 grant from Comic Relief in 2004, the project could have been delayed.

The cash was used mainly to fund the association's community development worker Ruth Batty, paying her salary for 18 months. This allowed her to keep driving forward the new community centre project

The Comic Relief money came at a vital moment, says Ruth. She was in the process of applying for a second lottery grant, only to be disappointed. "The lottery has changed its criteria," she says. "It basically won't accept York applications any more because it classes us as too affluent."

Luckily, Ruth had been to a workshop at the York Centre for Voluntary Services run by Comic Relief staff, in which they encouraged local charities to apply for Comic Relief funding.

Ruth did so: and just before Christmas 2003, with only a few months of funding for her job left, learned they had passed the first hurdle and stood a 90 per cent chance of getting the cash they hoped for. "Everybody had been really glum: and that gave us a real lift," she says.

Getting the grant freed the association to press ahead with plans for the new community centre, which opened last autumn and has already made a real difference.

The initial aim of the association had been to improve facilities for the area's 4,000 young people. The only provision was a youth club which ran two nights a week at Oaken Grove School. By the time the association's original office opened in the Memorial Hall, it became clear it wasn't just young people who needed more facilities.

"Straight away a lot of older people began coming in asking if we could do something for them," Ruth says.

That is why the community centre opened last week by Prince Andrew is for everyone. During the day it hosts adult education classes, bridge clubs, a drop-in centre and keep fit sessions. Then, in the late afternoon and evenings, it is used by youngsters in music clubs, drama groups and other activities.

It wouldn't have all gone to the wall without the Comic Relief funding, Ruth says - but it would have been delayed.

She believes many more local charities should be tapping into Red Nose Day funds.

"I keep telling everybody to apply to them," she says. "It is not a source of funding that many local groups think of applying for because they think the money goes to other countries. But not all of it does, and they are excellent.

"They try to pick up groups such as ourselves which other agencies won't fund. They really can help keep voluntary groups sustainable when a lot of other funding sources dry up, and you can go back to them again and again. There is no limit to how often they will support you.

"They also fund salaries, which is very important because many funding organisations won't."

:: Other York groups funded by Comic Relief

York Older People's Forum

SET up in 1997, this community group which gives the over-60s a voice in local policy making has benefited from two grants from Comic Relief totalling £5,500.

The first grant of £3,000 helped to buy computer equipment for the organisation's office in the Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York.

A second grant of £2,500 has helped to update this equipment.

Forum treasurer Tony Martin says the Comic Relief money has been an enormous help in enabling the organisation to meet its aims, which are to represent older citizens on a range of matters.

Mr Martin says: "It's been tremendously beneficial. Most offices have computer equipment - we all have to live in the real world - and this money helped us buy a computer, scanner and printer to allow us a reasonably efficient method of organising older people in York."

The Comic Relief money has been particularly welcome, added Mr Martin, because the forum's grant from City of York Council had been reduced from £1,000 a year to £200.

In recent years, the forum has been able to influence local issues from health care and housing to transport and social services provision.

It is part of an international movement and membership is free to all, including organisations and associations. Meetings are held around five times a year.

Next week members are to vote on whether to merge with the York Older People's Assembly, a charitable organisation which shares the aims of the forum as well as its office in St Saviourgate. All indications are that the merger will go ahead.

Meanwhile, Mr Martin urges Evening Press readers to rally round and support Comic Relief today.

He says: "It's a very worthwhile cause which does a tremendous amount of work in the UK as well as overseas. It helps not just older people, but children and the disabled."

:: International Service

The York-based development charity which sends volunteer development workers around the world received a £535,460 Comic Relief grant in June last year.

The money is being used by one of International Service's African partner organisations, Youth and Development, to improve the lives of disadvantaged young people Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali by supporting small business ventures, says the charity's York-based chief executive Jane Carter.

It is being spent on everything from helping young African people set up their own small businesses (such as chair-making, a carpenter's workshop) to providing basic education and training for those who missed out on schooling.

"We are delighted to have received this grant," says Jane. "The project has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life of those concerned."

Where Comic Relief money goes - and how to apply

MANY people may be surprised by just how much money Comic Relief has ploughed into good causes in the UK. Since its launch in 1985, it has raised more than £337 million. Of that, £94 million has been spent in this country, the rest in Africa.

Since Red Nose Day in 2003, more than £1 million has been spent in Yorkshire alone, on projects such as the Haxby and Wigginton Youth and Community Association, the York Older People's Forum and Leeds Women's Aid.

The money raised on the last Red Nose Day in 2003 has now all been spent. But new programmes will soon be launched once money from this year's extravaganza starts coming in.

Once that happens, guidance on how to apply will be posted on www.rednoseday.com or www.comicrelief.com the Comic Relief websites. You can also find out about forthcoming funding programmes by writing to: Grants, Comic Relief, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, enclosing a stamp and envelope.

Applying for a Comic Relief grant is easier than applying for a lottery grant, says Ruth Batty.

Initially, you need only complete a simple A4-sized application. Only if you get through the first stage of the selection process will you then be asked to submit a more detailed bid - and by that time, the chances of getting a grant will already be very high.

"They actually came out to see us, and if ever we needed to ring them up for help or advice it was no trouble," says Ruth. "They were very good to us."

Updated: 09:35 Friday, March 11, 2005