Dr Birgit Brandt

30 May 2003

Dr Birgit Brandt

Research Grant Manager

The Community Fund

St Vincent House

16 Suffolk Street

LONDON

SW1Y 4NL

Dear Dr Brandt

Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities is a second tier organisation that promotes opportunities for adults and young people with all kinds of disabilities to make the most of their learning and employment opportunities throughout the UK. We have been successful in receiving a number of substantial grants from the former National Lottery Charities Board, and the Community Fund, as well as the New Opportunities Fund. The outcomes achieved from this support have been immensely successful, and as our mission continues to fall within the Fund's priority areas for support we have hopes of further support whilst recognising there is less money available.

Last week we met with Jurgen Grotz for a final assessment of one of our projects funded by a Community Fund research grant, and at the conclusion of our discussion he asked if we had any recommendations. My staff mentioned the issue of publicity for Community Fund grants, which we had also raised in our response to consultations on the DCMS review of lottery funding at the end of October 2002. Publicity is also an on-going concern for Skill.

As a relatively small charity, we must continually strive is to raise awareness of the information and advice we can offer to individual disabled people. We need to use every opportunity available. We are already relatively well known amongst the professionals who use our services, and key policy makers including Margaret Hodge and many other ministers. But, as a relatively invisible and unemotional cause which seeks to be supportive rather than controversial, and with few resources to spend on publicity, we have difficulty in attracting media attention. The lottery also needs more publicity. Can we help each other? Jurgen encouraged us to forward our response on raising public awareness to you directly, as he feels recommendations all too easily get lost within a major consultation exercise. I therefore forward for your information part of our response to Tessa Jowell

Public Awareness and consultation

A major funder like the lottery has a crucial role to play, but based on logic not public emotion. Skill's work has benefited from several projects funded by the former National Lottery Charities Board, all of which have achieved more than their predicted outcomes, or are currently progressing very successfully. Skill feels it would jointly benefit both the lottery and recipients of funding if there were more publicity celebrating successful project outcomes. But the nature of the publicity should be more of an investigative documentary style, rather than the frothy nature of the kind of publicity that surrounds, for example, Comic Relief or Children in Need. The work of most charities is of a serious nature tackling the disadvantaged and deserving of our nation, and publicity should reflect this and inform the public. Publicise successful projects, not just visual ones.

We feel information is the key. Charities are experienced at using low cost options. We would recommend projects in receipt of lottery funding should maintain a page on a lottery website for the duration of the grant, with subsequent continued voluntary participation by the charity. Supporting dissemination of project outcomes would enable sharing of best practice.

With best wishes for the continued success of the Community Fund and its invaluable support for the disadvantaged in our society,

Yours sincerely

Barbara Waters

Chief Executive

Cc Lady Diana Brittan, CBE