A NATIONAL LOTTERY funding boost is music to the ears of youth work and media charity Heart and Sound.

Based in the heart of Dunfermline in Pilmuir Street, the charity received £150,000 from the Big Lottery Fund which will enable them to continue their development of their youth hub for another three years, as well as taking on new part-time staff. 

Steve Chalmers, founder, said: “This funding will give us more staff to actually put more time into the workshops we’re running.

"We’re hoping it will allow us to continue to bring in great bands and make more films for other charities as well.

"We do that for free and in the past few months we’ve made 20 charity videos which would’ve cost them thousands. 

“We’re still very much looking to run our youth work hub and skatepark plan, so now that we have three years of core funding we can really concentrate on that as well.

“We can reach more people now and part of the emphasis on this funding is reducing isolation and loneliness.” 

After receiving this financial backing for another three years, Steve is hoping they can make progress on their capital projects.

He added: “This is now part of an 18-24-month journey, really. They are really happy with our feasibility study for the skatepark and the community consultation we carried out.

"It now lets us look at other buildings for where we could make this happen. It’s evident that the community wants it.”

Fife Employment Access Trust also received £120,140 of funding for their partnership with NHS Fife Occupational Therapy and Psychology Services aimed at people with enduring and complex mental health difficulties who face significant changes to everyday living.

Fife Women’s Aid were also given £197,142 to support women affected by domestic abuse at the highest risk, as they continue to work with 500 people over the next two years.