Charities bag funding after three Northampton neighbours win share of £1 million on Postcode Lottery

A number of Northampton-based charities has been awarded between £25,000 and £60,000 in funding after three neighbours won a share on £1 million on the Postcode Lottery.

The neighbours, from Weston Favell, each won £333,333 after NN3 3JE bagged the lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize on Saturday (March 2).

The players’ windfalls mean charities in the area have also benefitted from a cash boost in the area – including The Frank Bruno Foundation, which has been awarded £50,000 by the Postcode Community Trust.

The former WBC heavyweight champ, aged 62, set up the Northampton-based charity in 2017 because of his own mental health struggles.

Now his foundation team are fighting to beat the stigma that still surrounds mental health issues and say the Postcode Lottery money will give them more clout.

James Wright, mental health and wellbeing co-ordinator, said: “The funding we’ve been awarded from Postcode Community Trust is hugely significant and will allow us to strengthen and widen our programme offering to make a greater positive impact within the local community.

“Despite the shift in attitudes over the last few years, there is still a strong stigma associated with mental health issues.

“The Frank Bruno Foundation aims to combat this by providing a safe space for its service users to speak openly about their experiences with mental health.”

One of the charity’s main initiatives is the Round by Round programme which offers wellbeing workshops and structured non-contact boxing sessions for anyone over the age of 10. It also gives clients the tools and techniques to help manage their own mental health.

James added: “The aim of the foundation is to bring healthy-body and healthy-mind approaches together to support all service-users with mental ill health.

“Thanks to the funding received today, we can maintain our services, roll out new programmes into our foundation and more importantly, we can support more young people who will benefit from our charity.”

Other charities in Northampton also benefitted from the neighbours winning big.

The Prader-Willi Syndrome Association UK, based at Moulton Park, has been awarded £60,000. The money will be used to provide lasting support to people with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, their families and carers. They offer multiple services including a dedicated helpline, regional peer support groups, as well as training for professionals and support for research.

The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation was also awarded £25,000, which will help provide essential supplies to those in need, such as food parcels, doorstep visits and phone calls, teaching people to cook on a budget, running social clubs and events and supplying local schools with hampers and breakfast boxes. 

Finally the KidsAid Foundation was also granted £60,000 to help support traumatised children, young people, and their families impacted by issues such as abuse, illness, and depression. Through the delivery of long-term, evidence-based therapies, they aim to improve mental health and empower families to thrive so that childhood trauma does not become a lifelong burden.