A COUNSELLING service for young people has been given a £489,000 boost from the lottery.

And the founder behind the Mirfield-based charity says it means they can help even more young people experiencing difficulties.

Jackie Bould, inset, founded the Emotional Support for Children and Young People (ESCAYP) charity in 2008 to offer counselling and therapeutic play to children and young people throughout West Yorkshire.

They work with young people who have experienced bereavement, bullying, family abuse and sexual and physical abuse who need someone to talk to.

And the £489,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund has stabilised the charity which can now recruit more volunteer counsellors to help the younger generation.

Jackie explained: “This is an amazing amount of money, I think I’m still in shock but it’s wonderful news.

“It means we can stabilise the charity, we have been able to take on three full time staff and set up an office, we didn’t have a proper computer or anything.

“We’re able to recruit more volunteer councillors and reach out to more young people.”

ESCAYP deals with a range of issues children and young people may experience including self harm and illness.

Counsellors work from satellite offices, including at sports centres and libraries, to make the child or young person feel at ease.

Jackie added: “We found there was a huge gap in service for the lower age and also people aged 17-21 who could benefit from counselling.”

Also receiving a boost from the Big Lottery Fund is Cultures United in Kirklees.

The new project will enable the charity, in partnership with the Kirklees Citizens Advice Bureau (KCAB), to improve the wellbeing of new migrants.

It will encourage integration and active citizenship through the provision of information, advice and support in Huddersfield and aim to address a lack of employment opportunities and support access to training and development to facilitate this.

Cultures United in Kirklees received £286,711 from the fund.

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding. It is responsible for giving out 46% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery and has awarded more than £4.4bn since 2004.