Back Up awarded £401,399 of National Lottery funding to support people with spinal cord injury across Wales
4 April 2024
Back Up is celebrating being awarded £401,339 over a three year period from The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales. Back Up will use the funds to expand their services and support more people with spinal cord injury across Wales.
Every four hours, someone in Wales will sustain a life-changing spinal cord injury. It can cause partial or full loss of movement, affecting everything from bladder control to sexual function. You may need to use a wheelchair and adjusting to life with a spinal cord injury can be overwhelming for the whole family. Thanks to this vital funding, Back Up will be able to help more people across Wales to realise their full potential.
For the first time, Back Up will deliver their City Skills course in Wales. This course is designed to help people develop their skills and confidence when using a wheelchair in a busy city.
The charity will expand its Welsh Language resources to enable more Welsh speakers to get the support they need. The funding will also help provide a dedicated member of staff in North Wales, ensuring the charity can expand their services and reach even more newly injured people in that region.
From using public transport to navigating the local shops, Back Up’s training helps boost confidence and independence, supporting people like Cerith to positively adjust to life following injury. Cerith from Swansea, sustained a spinal cord injury in a construction accident. A Back Up Multi Activity Course gave him the confidence needed to live life to the full, and introduced him to a supportive community.
Cerith said: “This course showed me I could do things I thought would be impossible after spinal cord injury, like canoeing and abseiling. I’d been on the City Skills course, and had the chance to develop my skills even further. It was a good laugh, and it really helped being around other people with a spinal cord injury.”
Cerith is now a volunteer mentor at Back Up.
Back Up CEO Abigail Lock said: “We’re incredibly grateful for this generous support from The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales.
“For almost 40 years, Back Up has been at the forefront of helping people positively adjust to life after spinal cord injury. Our services have transformed countless lives across the UK. Sadly, due to limited funding, we have been unable to offer the same services in Wales. Now, thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales, we can help more individuals, families, children and young people across Wales to realise their full potential after spinal cord injury.”
John Rose, Director of The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales, said: “We are delighted to be able to award Back Up with a grant of £401,399 to appoint staff in Wales who will support people with a new spinal cord injury and their families. Thanks to National Lottery players, the charity will now be able to offer the same services to people with spinal cord injuries in Wales as they offer in the rest of the UK.”
The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
“Mae’r cwrs yma wedi dangos i fi fy mod yn gallu gwneud y pethau y tybiais yn amhosib ar ôl anaf llinyn cefn.” Elusen Anabledd Back Up yn derbyn £401,399 o gronfa’r National Lottery i gefnogi pobl gyda anaf llinyn cefn yng Ngymru.
Mae elusen anaf llinyn cefn Back Up yn dathlu derbyn £401, 399 dros gyfnod o 3 blynedd wrth ‘National Lottery Community Fund in Wales’. Bydd Back Up yn defnyddio’r arian yma i ehangu ar y wasanaeth yng Nghymru ac i gefnogi mwy o fobl gydag anaf llinyn cefn yng Nghymru.
Bob pedair awr, bydd rhywun yng Nghymru yn derbyn anaf llinyn cefn. Gall achosi colli symudiad yn rhannol neu yn gyfan gwbl, yn effiethio popeth o rheolaeth y fledren i weithredoedd rywiol. Efallai bydd angen i chi ddefnyddio cadair olwyn a gall addasu i fywyd gydag anaf llinyn cefn effeithio’r teulu cyfan. Diolch i’r ariannu hanfodol yma, gall Back Up gefnogi mwy o fobl ar draw Cymru i wireddi eu llawn botensial.
Am y tro cyntaf, bydd Back Up yn cynnal y cwrs Sgiliau Dinas yng Nghymru. Mae’r cwrs yma wedi ei greu i helpu pobl i ddatblygu eu sgiliau a’u hyder pan yn defnyddio cadair olwyn mewn dinas brysur.
Bydd yr elusen yn ehangu ar eu adnoddau Cymreig i alluogi mwy o siaradwyr Cymraeg dderbyn y gefnogaeth sydd angen arnynt. Bydd yr arian hefyd yn ein galluogi i gael aelod penodol o staff yng Ngogledd Cymru, i sicrhau fod yr elusen yn ehangu ar y wasnaeth ac yn cyrraedd hyd yn oed mwy o fobl wedi eu hanafu yn yr ardal.
O ddefnyddio trafnidiaeth cyhoeddus i fynd o gwmpas siopau lleol, mae hyfforddiant Back Up yn codi hyder ac yn annog annibynniaeth , yn cefnogi pobl fel Cerith i addasu yn bositif i fywyd yn dilyn anaf. Cafodd Cerith ei anaf mewn damwain adeiladu. Rhoddodd Cwrs Aml Weithgaredd yr hyder iddo i fyw ei fywyd i’r eithaf a’i gyflwyno i gymuned cefnogol.
Dywedodd Cerith “Dangosodd y cwrs yma i fi fy mod yn gallu gwneud y pethau y meddyliais oedd yn amhosib yn dilyn anaf llinyn cefn, fel canwio ac abseilio. Bues i ar y cwrs Sgiliau Cadair Olwyn Dinas a chefais gyfle i ddatblygu fy sgiliau ymhellach. Roedd e’n llawer o hwyl ac roedd yn hyfryd i fod gyda phobl eraill ag anaf llinyn cefn.” Mae Cerith nawr yn Fentor Gwirfoddol gyda Back Up.
Dywedodd CEO Back Up Abigail Lock: “Rydym yn hynod o ddiolchgar am y gefnogaeth hael o’r National Lottery Community Fund in Wales. Ers bron 40 o flynyddoedd, mae Back Up wedi chwarae rhan flaenllaw yn cefnogi pobl i addasu yn bositif i fywyd yn dilyn anaf llinyn cefn. Mae ein gwasanaeth wedi trawsnewid nifer helaeth o fywydau ar draws y DU. Yn anffodus o ganlyniad i ariannu, nid ydym wedi gallu cynnig yr un safon o wasanaeth yng Nghymru. Nawr, diolch i’r National Lottery Community Fund in Wales, gallwn helpu mwy o unigolion, teulouoedd, plant a phobl ifanc ar draw Cymru i wireddi eu llawn botensial yn dilyn anaf llinyn cefn.
Dywedodd John Rose, Cyfarwyddwr National Lottery Community Fund in Wales: “Rydym wrth ein boddau i gyflwyno grant i Back Up o £401,399 i apwyntio staff yng Nghymru a fydd yn cefnogi pobl gyda anaf newydd i’r llinyn cefn a’u teuluoedd. Diolch i’r chwaraewyr National Lottery, bydd yr elusen yn gallu cynnig yr un gwasanaeth i bobl gydag anaf llinyn cefn yng Nghymru â gweddill y DU.
Yn ddiweddar, lawnsiodd y National Lottery ei strategaeth newydd “It starts with community” a fydd yn tanseilio’r ymdrechion i ddosbarthui leiaf £4 biliwn o goffrau’r National Lottery erbyn 2030. Fel rhan o hyn, mae gan yr ariannwr 4 pwynt allweddol, a fydd yn annog cymunedau i ddod at ei gilydd, bod yn gynaliadwy yn amgylcheddol, helpu plant a phobl ifanc i ffynu ac i alluogi pobl i fyw bywydau iachach.
Mae’r National Lottery yn codi dros £30 miliwn yr wythnos at achosion ar draw y DU. Diolch iddyn nhw, llynedd, rhannodd y National Lottery Community Fund dros hanner biliwn o bunoedd (£615.4 miliwn) o ariannu trawsnewidiol i gymunedau.
I ddarganfod mwy, ewch i www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
