Grants from the Department for Education and Skills' new Parenting Fund range from 11,150 for the National Library for the Blind, which supplies visually impaired parents with books to share with their children, to Pounds 349,874 for the Race Equality Unit, providing support and education for black and minority ethnic parents.
The Parenting Fund was launched by children's minister Margaret Hodge in May. The grants will fund projects for the next two years and will be distributed by the National Family and Parenting Institute.
The new funding covers regional grants for 18 areas with high levels of deprivation. Recipients include the disability charity Scope, given Pounds 292,504 for projects in Cornwall, north-east Lincolnshire, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stoke on Trent.
The Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) has received 260,853 to help parents boost their children's attainment. PEEP chief executive Peter Silva said, 'The grant is extremely important to us. In the next two years we will train 600 practitioners to support parents as educators, reading, singing and playing with their children to support their learning in everyday situations.'
Lord Geoffrey Filkin, the parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, said, 'Good parenting has a greater impact on a child's physical, social and education development than any other influence. The grants will increase support available to families and will ensure that more children grow up in a safe, stable and loving family environment.'
For a full list of grant recipients, see www.parentingfund.org.