NEWS DESK
PATRON:
MADONNA
DAME JUDI DENCH
ROYAL PATRON:
HH THE BEGUM
AGA KHAN
Copyright Children of Peace;
design and build by
THE AMERICAN FUND FOR CHARITIES
Supporting Good Causes Worldwide




BIG LOTTERY FUND AWARDS FIRST INTERNATIONAL GRANT TO CHILDREN OF PEACE December 2006
Children of Peace is the first beneficiary of an award from the Small Grants strand
of the International programme. A £10,000 grant will fund a delegation from the charity
for a fact-finding visit to Israel and to meet with representatives from the Palestinian
Territories, prior to applying for further funding from the new International Large
Grant.
Big Lottery Fund Chair, Sir Clive Booth, said...
"We are also awarding some smaller grants today for a range of research projects.
Children of Peace will use their grant to work with children from Israeli and Palestinian
communities to find positive ways forward for overcoming decades of conflict and
mistrust between the two sides.“
Children of Peace believe the forgotten victims of the Middle East conflict are the
children, and that it’s the children who can make the first steps on any roadmap
to peace. Liel, a 17 year old Israeli Goodwill Ambassador and singer, says: “I have
been working for peace since I was twelve years old and I believe that you have to
start with the children. I am sure that there is another girl just like me living
in Palestine who wants peace as much as I do - to live a normal life and have fun,
and I would like to meet her one day."
Richard Martin, Founder and Chairman, said: “When I started on this path two years
ago it was a very lonely road. Now it's crowded with amazing people from around the
world and in Israel and Palestine - Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus".
“For us, the children are the forgotten victims of almost sixty years of conflict.
Successive generations of Israeli and Palestinian children have grown up traumatised
or disabled or troubled and are often full of hate. One positive way forward is to
educate the children on both sides to overcome decades of mistrust and fear by learning
to speak each other's languages, sharing in arts and sports activities, improving
their health and building hope and understanding between both communities for a more
peaceful future."
The Big Lottery Funds rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every
24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK
most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project. The largest of the
National Lottery good cause distributors, the Big Lottery Fund has been rolling out
grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since
its inception in June 2004.
THE ARCHIVES