WIREDGOV

Women and children from the Arabic-speaking community in London will be better protected from domestic violence through half a million pounds in support announced yesterday by the BIG Lottery Fund.

The Al-Aman Domestic Violence Intervention Project is being awarded £488,843 by the Lottery good cause fund to provide a confidential support and advocacy outreach service that addresses the specific cultural, linguistic and legal needs of women from Arabic backgrounds living in London.

Along with emotional support, the project also provides practical help including advocacy for women needing to obtain an Islamic divorce, and supporting women living under the fear of child abduction.

The funding is from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, which supports projects that improve the lives of local people in communities across England, has provided the funding so the project can expand.

The project also offers an educative programme for Arabic-speaking male perpetrators of domestic violence. This consists of a 32-week structured course with material translated into Arabic and featuring culturally appropriate adaptations.

Louisa Cox, Funding and Development Manager for the Al-Aman Domestic Violence Intervention Project, said: "This grant will help us make a significant social impact over the next five years within Arabic communities across London. We have three clear aims - to increase the safety of women and children, reducing their isolation by enhancing access to key services; to increase community and faith leader's awareness and understanding of domestic violence, as well as that of front-line workers such as the Police and Social Services and finally, and to assist male perpetrators in moving towards change through participating in a structured programme."

Debbie Pippard, Head of Region for London, said: “Reaching Communities is about supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and helping them to live happy and successful lives. BIG is pleased to be able to support this project in London, which is clearly making a significant difference to the lives of many Arabic speaking women and children.”

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• Under Reaching Communities, the Big Lottery Fund awards grants between £10,000 and £500,000 to projects that offer people better life chances, build stronger communities, develop improved rural and urban environments and improve health and well being.
• The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 280,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.