Hampshire based children’s charity Youth Options is celebrating after being awarded £5,000 to fund an outdoor learning centre in Eastleigh.

The pilot funding programme Places Called Home from the National Lottery Community Fund and IKEA UK is supporting 330 communities throughout the country, awarding funds to help rebuild after the pandemic. The project aims to encourage communities to connect with each other and live healthy and sustainable lifestyles. The pilot is a small-scale test to study how the partnership between the organisations will work going forward.

Youth Options will be using its funding to renovate a volunteer shed so that volunteers can have their own space to take breaks from working and connect with each other.

Carly Redwood of Youth Options commented:

“Thanks to National Lottery players and IKEA our current disused outbuilding will be transformed into a space for our amazing volunteers to feel at home, to shelter from the weather, share knowledge, create friendships, and recharge with a cup of hot tea or soup. This will not only support our volunteers but create a space that will benefit the children and young people we work with now and in the future.”

Emma Ackerman of The National Lottery Community Fund added:

“As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that we can build on the energy and creativity we’ve seen to make stronger communities and a better everyday life. We’re delighted that together with IKEA and National Lottery players we have been able to support this across the UK with our pilot partnership and funding announced today.”

Find out more about the Places Called Home programme at: tnlcommunityfund.org.uk.