£50,000 award for Blue Cabin from People’s Postcode Lottery

Blue Cabin has received £50,000 awarded through Postcode Community Trust, thanks to funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

The award will support the charity’s work using artist-led, creative activities to help care-experienced children and young people develop and strengthen relationships with people in their lives. This includes babies as young as a few weeks old, through to young people leaving care.

The news came after residents of a street in Gateshead shared a win of £1 million through the Millionaire Street Prize, which also benefited charities and good causes in the local area – including Blue Cabin.

Jenny Young, Director of Blue Cabin, explained: “We had no idea this brilliant news was coming so it was a total surprise to receive the call.”

Jenny added: “In 2021/22 there were approximately 105,400 children in care in the UK, and the North East has the highest rate of children in care in the whole of England. The number of children and young people entering care is growing rapidly and the demand for our work is increasing.”

The funding will support Blue Cabin to support more people through its projects, including:

• Mee Mee Theatre’s Worlds of Curiosity and Play: giving care-experienced young people in Gateshead the opportunity to work with professional artists and achieve an Arts Award qualification. Learn more>>
• This is the Place: using music to help care-experienced babies, as young as a few weeks old, form attachments with their carers. As well as regular music-making sessions, every care-experienced child aged five and under in Darlington and in Redcar has been given their own music-making pack to use at home. Learn more>>

“Care experienced children and young people have all faced one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and we know that their future prospects can be greatly improved when they have the opportunity to take part in creative activities, especially those which are trauma informed, and develop stronger relationships with the people in their lives,” said Jenny.

“That’s why at Blue Cabin we work alongside our partners, including local authorities and charities, to facilitate a wide range of projects, using creative activities to help prevent and tackle the consequences of ACEs.”

The grant is thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, who support thousands of charities and good causes each year.

“Our entire team and Board of Trustees are over the moon! We are incredibly grateful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and this support will strengthen Blue Cabin during what is a very difficult funding climate,” said Jenny.