Five-figure funding boost for social enterprise

Lincolshire social enterprise, Think2Speak has been awarded £80,000 in National Lottery funding to support its work with children and young people.

The funding boost for the organisation whose head office is in Marshall’s Yard, Gainsborough, comprises of £10,000 to provide wellbeing support to children and their families, and £70,000 from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, to develop its LGBTQ+ peer support programme.

Think2Speak has been running since 2015 and was founded by Lizzie Jordan after she realised that adults were struggling to talk about some of the conversations her family had navigated after she became a mum, a widow and was diagnosed with HIV all in an 18 month period back in 2005.

The social enterprise now supports schools, charities and businesses across the East Midlands to be more inclusive by putting conversation skills at the heart of an organisation’s culture. It also facilitates a wide variety of groups for children, young and their families to learn new skills, make friends, gain confidence and access peer support to empower them to thrive.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund will see these group expand with one to one support available, and will also enable people of all ages to become Think2Speak accredited peer supporters.

Jordan said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to press on with our plans to broaden the range of opportunities Think2Speak are able to make available to LGBTQ+ young people who have been disproportionally impacted by lockdown. This is important because it helps them to build relationships with others facing similar challenges and to create their own supportive circles of friends and peers.”

The Mum of a family who access Think2Speak’s support said: “Think2Speak has massively helped me understand my child, keep connected to them and open to them as well as sharing worries, concerns with other families in similar situation. The difference has been obvious, they are open and confident about them self now, they have made friends and it has allowed them to process how they really feel in a relaxed and friendly environment. They have blossomed since being a part of the Think2Speak family and it’s amazing that this money will help lots more families like ours benefit too”