- Area:
- North West England
- Programme:
- Awards for All England
- Release date:
- 9 4 2013
Villagers in Cumbria are raising a glass and toasting the news of a Big Lottery Fund grant to refurbish their community-run pub.
The Lyvennet Community Pub organisation, which runs the Butcher’s Arms in Crosby Ravensworth, is just one of 128 groups in the North West receiving funding from BIG’s most popular grants scheme Awards For All which gives small grants of up to £10,000 to projects that can make a big difference to people’s lives.
The Lyvennet Community Pub was formed to purchase the Butcher’s Arms after it closed in 2009. It reopened in 2011, was visited by Prime Minister David Cameron, and is currently owned by around 300 shareholders of which more than half are from the local community.
The £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund will be used to refurbish the building so that it becomes more than just a great pub, but a lively community hub.
Chair of the Lyvennet Community Pub, David Graham, explained: “It’s been an incredible journey over the last two years buying and reopening the Butchers Arms. This £10,000 award from the Big Lottery Fund will mean the pub can offer the community a new dining, meeting and training space. The two upstairs bedrooms, currently used to store stock, will be converted to one large room with the stock moved to a newly converted external dry store. Our ambition is to further enhance the Butchers Arms by continuing with our community hub theme, where people are able not just to enjoy a drink, meal and a chat – but also hold meetings, learn new computer skills, join clubs and celebrate family events.”
Meanwhile in Manchester, people with physical, learning and sensory disabilities, will benefit from a £8,880 grant to Simply Cycling to set up a mechanics and training workshop which will carry out maintenance and repairs to their adapted bicycles. The provision of a reliable service will reduce the stress and inconvenience to disabled cyclists when their bicycles breakdown.
Rochdale AFC Football in the Community Trust will deliver sports courses and programmes to students with special needs thanks to a £8,964 grant. The project will ease the transition for primary school students with special needs who will soon be attending Redwood School and enable current students at the school to develop organisational and leadership skills.
A voluntary organisation which operates across West Lancashire receives a £4,636 grant to provide fun and social activities to parent carers, disabled children, and their siblings. ONEVOICEwestlancs will provide information, advice and support to reduce isolation for parent carers with social evenings, cookery sessions, jewellery, making, archery, family zorbing, creative writing, swimming and bowling.
High Lawn Community Primary School in Bolton receives £10,000 to develop an unused piece of land within the school grounds into a forest wildlife area to teach children about the natural environment, den building and cooking outdoors.
In Liverpool a voluntary group called Dads, Lads and Lasses receives £10,000 to develop their work enabling male carers to spend quality time with their children, learn together with sports activities and camping.
Big Lottery Fund spokesperson Helen Bullough said: “You hear about village pubs closing down up and down the country and it’s a tragedy for the way of life in the British countryside, socially and culturally. So it’s wonderful to see the Butchers Arms thriving again and we are delighted to be able to award £10,000 to refurbish this much-valued pub so that it will be able to provide facilities to bring the community even closer together.
“All of our small Awards For All grants will make a huge difference to thousands of people across the North West.”
See a full list of awards
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 40% 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 its inception in 2004 BIG has awarded close to £6bn.
• 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 £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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