Feeling Funny Mums Is Born!
Liverpool based charity The Comedy Trust have been awarded nearly £9k in National Lottery funding from the Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. The money will allow them to expand their hugely successful Feeling Funny mental health programme to include working with women suffering from perinatal mental health issues and post-natal depression.
Sessions will use comedy and humour as a vehicle to increase the confidence and self-esteem of participants, empower them to speak openly and to combat self-discrimination. Women taking part will use humour to raise awareness of their condition in a light hearted but supportive way.
Using a combination of professional comedians and creative practitioners, the project will support women to communicate with, and be surrounded by, like-minded people in a friendly and non-judgemental environment.
The Feeling Funny Mums programme feeds directly into The Comedy Trust’s ethos to Create Happier, Healthier People.
Sam Avery, Artistic Director of The Comedy Trust said, ‘We are beyond thrilled to receive this National Lottery funding to extend our work to meet the needs of mothers. One of the side-effects of poor perinatal mental health is the feeling of isolation and we hope to make a real difference to the lives of our participants and hopefully, as a knock-on effect, to their families too.’
Alexandra Clinton from the Awesome Mum's Brunch Club said, "Every mum needs different strategies and coping mechanisms; this innovative way of addressing mental health issues is exactly what's needed if the regular routes of support aren't for you. Anything that gets Mums together and talking about the reality of parenting is a plus - and if we get to have a laugh whilst doing it, that's great as long as our pelvic floors are up to it!"
James Harcourt, England Grant-making Director at the Big Lottery Fund, said: “This project is about creating a welcoming place where women can come together and support one another at what can be an incredibly difficult time in their lives. Thanks to National Lottery players, The Comedy Trust will be able to expand its work, so that even more women in Liverpool have the opportunity to be involved.”
The Big Lottery Fund is the largest distributor of National Lottery money, giving out 40% of the money raised by players for good causes. Last year a quarter of projects it invested in across the UK were designed to support improved mental wellbeing.
ABOUT THE BIG LOTTERY FUND:
The Big Lottery Fund uses money raised by National Lottery players to help communities achieve their ambitions. From small, local projects to UK-wide initiatives, our funding brings people together to make a difference to their health, wellbeing and environment. Since June 2004 we have awarded £8.5 billion to projects that improve the lives of millions of people.
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