Out & About is celebrating having received a £36,000 grant. The two year grant will support the salary of a new operations manager, allowing Out & About to expand its work into neighbouring areas. Funding has been made available from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales through its Community programme. During 2008 five charities in Suffolk received grants from the Lloyds TSB Foundation worth a total of over £133,000.

From its area offices in Ipswich, Bury and Lowestoft, staff and volunteers of Out & About work with children and young people that have physical, learning, sensory or other disabilities to identify the leisure activities they want to take part in and support them to break down the barriers that are preventing their inclusion.

Last year the charity helped 301 young people to take part in activities that ranged across scout groups, after school clubs, swimming, bell ringing and polishing vintage steam engines. The charity matches many of its clients with appropriate volunteers, many in their late teens, who can provide ongoing support. Out & About also works with clubs, sports centres and other leisure providers to build their capacity for accommodating disabled children and young people.

Out & About is currently recruiting a new operations manager who will work to expand the charities services within Suffolk and across the East of England. The post, funded by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales, will create many more opportunities for disadvantaged young people to break down barriers and play a fuller role in their local community.

Steve Allman, chief executive of Out & About commented, "Disabled children want to take part in the same activities as other children and most of all they want to have fun and make friends. Confidence is often the biggest barrier for everybody involved, which is not difficult to overcome with the right support. This is why we are keen to expand our work to neighbouring areas."

David White, Lloyds TSB Foundation grant manager for the East of England added, "Out & About has a great record of helping disabled young people in Ipswich and across Suffolk. Advice they give to leisure providers also improves the services that can be enjoyed by all disabled people in the area. The Lloyds TSB Foundation is delighted to help them expand their operations so more young people can benefit from their work."

Out & About runs a year round programme of fundraising events and individual donations to support their work in the local community are vital to their continued success. Find out more by visiting our Fundraising and Volunteer pages.