A charity that supports amputees and their families has secured a 3-year funding boost from The National Lottery Community Fund – the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
Steel Bones, which was founded by amputee Leigh Joy-Staines and wife Emma, will receive a total of £176,840 over 3 years for their project entitled Empowering Amputee Families to Live Life To The Full.
This multi-year Reaching Communities Grant for Steel Bones brings vital support to a hidden, ever-growing community of civil amputees and their families. There are an estimated 60,000 amputee patients being treated in NHS Prosthetic Clinics.
Steel Bones is a catalyst for change, creating stable, secure support for the civilian amputee community that can be scaled up across England and Wales. This National Lottery Reaching Communities Grant will enable Steel Bones to enhance infrastructure and build the team to meet growing demand, delivering one-to-one peer support to 750 amputees and their families across 3 years. It will also provide Steel Bones with the funding needed to maintain and expand their peer led model of support for the disengaged amputee community.
Steel Bones was established soon after Leigh lost his own leg following a botched operation when he was 25. Following his discharge from hospital, Leigh found a lack of support and information regarding what had happened to him. It was fatherhood that inspired Leigh and Emma to start Steel Bones as a support group, which quickly snowballed into a registered charity due to demand.
On the funding news, Leigh said: “We can’t thank the National Lottery players enough for making this possible. This grant will enable us to help more of the most vulnerable amputees through peer support family mentoring.”
Colin Phelps, Chairman of Steel Bones said “There’s still a huge amount of unfamiliarity surrounding those with disabilities. Many of us still struggle to be independent as there are so many obstacles to overcome every day. We are thrilled to be sharing this news with everyone and we are excited for Steel Bones’ next steps and to meet more families we can help”
To find out more about Steel Bones, visit the website: https://steelbone.co.uk
NOTE TO EDITOR:
Steel Bones is a registered charity working to connect the amputee community and inspire and support both amputees and their families through providing latest news, signposting to useful services and recommendations on therapists, personal trainers and potential career opportunities.
If you would like high quality images for print or for further information please call 01223 734 000 or email hello@steelbone.co.uk
REGISTERED CHARITY NO 1174189
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About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we support people and communities to prosper and thrive.
We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.
Our funding has a positive impact and makes a difference to people’s lives. We support projects focused on things that matter, including economic prosperity, employment, young people, mental health, loneliness and helping the UK reach net zero by 2050.
Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes. National Lottery funding has been used to support over 635,000 projects – 255 projects per postcode area.
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