Nucleus Funding Application – December 2014Rory Wilkinson, Trustee

[VIDEO IN HERE]

IntroductionApologies that we can’t be with you, we are currently supported entirely by the volunteers and are all unable to attend the meeting due to our job commitments. We are very grateful for the opportunity to present to Nucleus albeit not in person. We admire your charitable work and hope that you would like to be part of the Joshua Nolan Foundation story. We’re a young charity but we are very ambitious and are looking for partners who share our ambition to support us along the way. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Rory Wilkinson, JNF Trusteerory@joshuanolanfoundation.org, 07958053424

The NeedThe Joshua Nolan Foundation was established by Laura Nolan in 2013 following the suicide of her son Joshua. Our aim is is to reduce the number of suicides in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas by helping those in need gain access to quality counseling and improving awareness of mental health issues and support available.

Two people commit suicide in Scotland every day, that’s more than die on Scotland's roads in traffic accidents. UK wide suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 and 49, that’s even more than cancer and heart disease. Every suicide is a preventable tragedy.

Work to date – CounselingWe have started our first pilot to trial the best ways of funding counseling. The basis of the pilot is:1. Select counselors who meet our criteria for a quality counselor2. Counselors are given funding to support as number of clients for up to 80% of the cost of a block of 8 sessions.3. Funding is given to those who have identified the need for counseling have a suicide risk of 3 or above (out of 5) and cannot afford the sessions.4. Sessions are completed, the counselor re-assesses the suicide rating and reports the ratings for the start and finish of the counseling

Work to date – Workshops and awarenessAlongside Counselling we are planning a series of workshops to be held in schools across Edinburgh. The workshops are for those directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues. They aim to help attendees rationalise some of the causes of mental health issues.

We consider fundraising and awareness to come hand in hand. To date we have raised funds through marathon sponsorship, event sponsorship and Christmas cards which featured the work of 12 local artists and illustrators. Each of these events raises funds but also highlights the work of the JNF and mental health issues in general.

Press coverageThe JNF has been featured in the Scotsman and most recently the Independent. Laura has been nominated for Scotswoman of the year by the Daily Mail.

Link 1Link 2Link 3

This exposure helps us increase awareness of the issues and also increase traffic to our website, highlighting our fundraising activities.

Plan for the futureIn 2015 we intend to:

- Counselling: move from pilot to ongoing support- Workshops. Start in Jan- Ongoing fundraising

What the Nucleus funding would mean to the JNFThe funding would literally create a step change in our ability to scale as an organization. We would be able not only to have more immediate impact through counseling and workshops but would be able to create a stable platform to grow the charity further in future years.

How the money would be spentWe would split the award 50/50 between funding for counseling and workshops and putting in place paid resource to support these activities and increase our fundraising activities. Specifically we would be able to:

- Increase the number of clients given funding for 8 sessions from X to Y- Double the number of school workshops given from X to Y- Fund part time resource to support administrative, fundraising and strategic activities- Prepare an application for lottery funding of up to £XXXk- Create a strategic plan to increase our coverage to include Glasgow- Manage an unpaid intern