New findings show how badly we need innovative ideas to help families - most parents have too little family time together.
An announcement was made by National Family Week, at LEGOLAND Windsor to launch the new Big Family Idea competition to find the best new ideas to improve family life - with £150,000 from the Big Lottery Fund to make the winning idea a reality. The announcement was part of the launch of a programme of over 2500 National Family Week events for families around the UK.
The Big Family Idea, launched as part of National Family Week (25-31 May) will be open to anyone in the UK. They might have been working on family policy for decades, or be someone of any age, from any walk of life, who just comes up with a brilliant idea. The idea could be aimed at improving family life in their street, in their town or across the whole country. It might be a product, service, event, campaign or a great social idea. The winner will get to discuss their idea with senior political figures, and £150,000 of Big Lottery Fund good causes money will be used to turn the winning idea into reality. Written or video entries can be made online at www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk.
Present at the announcement were Baronness Delyth Morgan, Government Minister for Children, Young People and Families, Theresa May, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Minister for Women, TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson and actress Pauline Quirke, as well as representatives of National Family Week, LEGOLAND Windsor and the Big Lottery Fund.
National Family Week is backed by over 100 national organisations such as the NSPCC, Save the Children, the Princes’ Trust, Relate, the TUC and the Football Association.
It is supported by celebrities such as Terry Wogan, “Supernanny” Jo Frost and presenters Richard & Judy, and by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Conservative leader David Cameron, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, Scottish First minister Alec Salmond and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
In the survey conducted for National Family Week, over half (52%) of parents said that they did not spend enough quality time together as a family. For example, they wanted to be able to have more meals together (60%), play games together more (54%) and do more educational things together (64%). This shows how important it is that we mobilise the nation to use our ingenuity and creativity to improve family life.
Sanjay Dighe, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund’s England Committee, said,
“The Big Lottery Fund is delighted to work in partnership with National Family Week and support the Big Family Idea. We hope that the £150,000 we provide will inspire people to generate great ideas, and for the winner to see their ideas turned into reality and have a positive impact on family life in the UK. The Big Lottery Fund has invested more than £470 million of its lottery good cause funding to enable over 1,700 organisations to support parents and families since its formation in 2004.”
Kevin Steele, co-founder of National Family Week, said:
“In the past, innovative ideas have improved family life in many ways, from folding pushchairs and baby monitors to rubberised safety asphalt for playgrounds, home delivery of groceries and “walking buses” that enable children to go to school on foot. The Big Family Idea competition will encourage ordinary people all over Britain to put on their thinking caps to come up with more brilliant ideas like these.”
Full detials of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
