Andy's receives grant funding towards specialist bus

Andy's Children's Hospice was delighted to receive a £11,130 grant towards a specialist bus, thanks to players of the Health Lottery.

The funding was used towards the purchase of Andy’s bus, which has been pivotal in bringing vital specialist hospice care to babies and children in their homes across Lincolnshire, Hull and the East Riding.

Mel Elwis, Bids & Grants Officer from St Andrew’s Hospice, said: “On behalf of everyone at Andy’s Children’s Hospice and St Andrew’s Hospice, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your generous grant of £11,130 towards Andy’s bus.

"This gift is both overwhelming and uplifting … Andy’s bus will be pivotal in helping us reach and support children and young people with life-limiting conditions across the region. Your generosity has brought this vision significantly closer to reality, and we are deeply grateful.”

Thanks to players of The Health Lottery, £751,180 has been distributed to 45 charities across Britain, making a tangible difference to the health and wellbeing of young people. 

Delva Patman, Chief Executive of The Health Lottery Foundation, explained:

“Over 2 weeks in June we received almost 2,400 applications for funding. Initially we planned to give out £500,000 but during our shortlisting process we decided to increase the volume of donations. This is because the quality and variety of applications exceeded our expectations.

"We are thrilled with the projects we’ve chosen to support and look forward to sharing more about their achievements over the next few months. Thank you to every organisation that took the time to apply.”

The projects, that fall under the umbrella of supporting young people, come from all over Britain and focus on a huge variety of different approaches to tackling poor health and wellbeing. They include theatre-led sessions, sport-related activities, mentoring, specialist counselling and animal-aided therapy. The projects are tackling big issues including sexual assault, poor mental health, poverty, low self-esteem, homelessness, spinal injury, terminal illness, allergies and loneliness.