- Area:
- East of England
- Programme:
- Awards for All England
- Release date:
- 20 2 2012
A variety of community groups ranging from community gardeners to those supporting visually impaired people are all set to benefit from National Lottery support as 50 organisations from across the East of England region each receive a Big Lottery Fund grant today.
The money, totalling £402,472, comes from BIG’s popular small grants programme, Awards for All.
One project receiving a grant is Dunton Community Garden Group in Dunton, near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. The group will use their grant of £5,450 to set up a young gardeners’ club and provide activities for young people such as growing, cooking and crafts, to take place during weekends, some evenings and school holidays.
Jenny Pates, Garden Coordinator at the group said: “Our village doesn’t have a youth club or a lot to occupy our local young people, so we are really keen to get them involved in our community garden. We have such a wonderful resource – 1.5 acres of space with polytunnels, fruit and vegetable growing, flowers, trees and lots of open space. We are planning to run some ‘growing your own food’ sessions and craft activities such as basket making and building weeping willow structures, and whatever else the young people might want to do. It’s a really exciting time to get involved.”
Jenny is also looking for a volunteer to help manage the project. Interested people can get in touch by phoning 01767 313 898 or by email duntongarden@btinternet.com
Meanwhile, in Essex a grant of £9,840 goes to the Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) Community Life Project in Epping Forest. The group will use the funding to deliver training, peer support and befriending sessions for visually impaired people. Activities will include music therapy, independent living skills, games, crafts and employability development workshops.
Also receiving funding is the Shephall Residents & Associates Group in Stevenage who will use their £7,225 grant to set up a community newsletter. Residents will contribute to the content, giving local people of all ages the chance to voice their opinions on community issues and report on local events.
Other groups receiving grants today include: Rochford Parish Council in Essex which receives £5,000 to install a mains water supply to an allotment site; Dallow Primary School in Luton which will use £10,000 to provide child safety advice and loan equipment such as safety gates and cupboard locks to families; and Hope into Action: East of England in Peterborough which receives £7,400 to refurbish two houses to provide accommodation for homeless people.
Sara Betsworth, Big Lottery Fund’s Head of the East of England region, said: “It’s always amazing to see the range of accomplishments that people can achieve with relatively small amounts of funding, and it’s great to see that 50 groups across the region are sharing in this round of awards.
“Whether it’s running a new activity or creating new clubs and volunteering opportunities, an Awards for All grant could help to make these things happen. I’d like to encourage any community groups in need of funding of less than £10,000 to get in touch to discuss your project.”
BIG’s Awards for All programme offers grants of between £300 and £10,000 to social and environmental projects that will benefit local communities and make a difference to the lives of those most in need. Voluntary and community groups, schools, health organisations and parish and town councils can all apply. Visit www.awardsforall.org.uk or phone 0845 410 20 30 for more information.
For a full list of today’s awards click 
here
- 397KB:
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund
Notes to Editors
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 46% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
- BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since June 2004 BIG has awarded over £4.4bn.
- The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £27 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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