More than £1m will be made available to help those battling chronic conditions
Vital funding for those with long term conditions has been announced.
At this week's Self Management Award ceremony hosted at the Scottish Parliament, Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, announced that £1.2 million has been invested in 53 projects working to support people with long term conditions in communities across Scotland.
Freeman remarked that this is an important and necessary investment to address the reality that 45% of adults in Scotland live with a long term condition.
She said: “This year we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of Scotland’s Self Management Fund. The fund has enabled the development of projects both large and small supported by Scottish Government funding of £20 million since 2009.
“I am delighted to announce that, along with additional grant funding from the William Grant Foundation, £1.2 million has been made available this year to fund 53 brand new projects. These new projects cover the length and breadth of the country and continue to support people across a wide range of long term conditions.”
Recognising the need for support to strengthen the ability of people to manage their long term conditions, the Scottish Government has invested £20 million, over the last 10 years in the Self Management Fund.
With additional investment of £150,000 from the William Grant Foundation this year, the fund is enabled to reach many communities across Scotland; from Dumfries to Nairn and Lochgilphead to Aberdeen.
In South Lanarkshire, Clydesdale Community Initiatives will support people with enduring and severe mental health to take control of their lives through community volunteering and social enterprise.
East Ayrshire’s Centrestage Communities will expand and develop their capacity to deliver Dance for Parkinson’s, and other music and dancing sessions, for older people. Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland will reach out to young people across Scotland, who are transitioning to adult services, with a health clinic available via the NHS Attend Anywhere web platform.
Professor Ian Welsh OBE, chief executive of the ALLIANCE, said people living with long term conditions need to be given more control over the support they access.
He said: “Driven by the needs of people accessing these services, the funded projects cover a wide range of activities, reflecting the diversity in support required by people living with long term conditions.
“The fund and our awards show how people and projects delivering innovative services can make a real difference in communities.”
Nick Addington, chief executive of the William Grant Foundation said: “We have been impressed by the range of projects supported by the Fund and are pleased that our contribution is enabling more people around Scotland to benefit from support to live well with long-term conditions.”
Be Active Life Long Groups (BALL) Moray won the Project of the Year at the Self Management awards. Details of all the winners are available on the ALLIANCE website.
