30 January 2002
Quarriers, Scotland's third largest care charity, has been awarded two grants totalling £378,400 over three years by the National Lottery Community Fund to continue its pioneering work with young homeless people in Glasgow.
The charity has been providing residential and other support services for the city's young homeless people for a number of years and the grant will enable the continuation of two very specialised projects based in Whiteinch which were developed as a direct result of this experience.
Quarriers' Befriending Project, which will receive £191,000, was set up to help young people who feel isolated, lonely and lacking in the skills which will help them move out of the homeless scene.
Experience shows that many young homeless people lose touch with existing supports and new friendships are often of a transitory nature. The Befriending Project tackles this problem by introducing young people to trained and committed volunteers who offer their time and support on a one to one basis in a way that suits the young person. This takes a number of forms and is often quite social such as meeting up for a coffee or going to the cinema.
The new grants will enable Quarries to train volunteer befrienders as mentors/advocates who will be able to help and guide homeless young people in accessing training and employment opportunities as well as health, welfare rights and other services.
Quarriers' Reach Out Project, one of only a handful of projects in Scotland for young homeless people who self harm, will receive £187,400. The project provides one to one support, a drop-in, a self help group, and training and information resources for other agencies.
The reasons why young people self injure are complex and individual but many describe it as a form of emotional release, a way of coping with and communicating unbearable thoughts and feelings. Quarriers has found that around half of the young people who take part in Reach Out have been in care and 71 per cent have a history of suicide attempts.
Both projects have been supported previously by the Community Fund.
Phil Robinson, Quarriers' chief executive, said: "Quarriers has many years' experience of providing a range of services for young homeless people. Our Befriending and Reach Out projects were created originally to meet the need for very specific types of support. We are pleased to receive these significant Lottery grants to enable these important care services to continue helping young homeless people across the city."
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
Quarriers is Scotland's third largest care charity, number SC001960. Established in 1871, it provides a wide range of care services for children, families, young people and adults with a disability from around 70 projects at around 100 sites in west-central, south-west and north-east Scotland.
This information from Shona O'Donnell of The Business, public relations support to Quarriers. For more information please contact: Tel: 0131 718 6022 Fax: 0131 718 6145 Mobile: 07879 842527
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