- Area:
- North West England
- Programme:
- Awards for All England
- Release date:
- 20 2 2012
Wheelchair users in Lancashire will be able to access an area of woodland
thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund. Witton Country Park Green Gym is one of a number of projects
in the region receiving funding today to improve enjoyment of the great outdoors.
A
total of 113 projects in the North West are sharing grants totalling £977,544 from BIG’s small grants
Awards for All programme.
Witton
Country Park Green Gym helps people become physically and mentally healthier through supervised
nature conservation activities in the 480 acre country park. It will use its £3,117
grant to improve a nature trail by installing wheelchair and pushchair boardwalks in the community woodland
to make the site more accessible for all members of the community.
Project
leader Bill Lloyd, said: “We will be using this grant to improve the entrance and exit at Buncer
Wood, which can get very muddy and slippery, so that wheelchair users and mums with prams can get access
to the park at this point. Witton Country Park is a beautiful mix of woodland, parkland and farmland
and now it will be easier for more people to explore it.”
Meanwhile
the Cheshire Landscape Trust has received £9,700 to train ten
volunteers to become landscape wardens, learning skills in environmental management to support landscape
surveying and land improvement projects. These ‘community champions’ will engage local residents in identifying environmental needs, conservation
activities and habitat management.
In Pendle,
the Friends of Ball Grove will use £8,940 to sink a borehole
at a local lake to ensure that a continuous supply of water will replenish water levels, preventing
the lake from drying out. The will not only improve the lake for residents, but also have positive benefits
for local wildlife.
Whitefield
Primary School in Preston has received £9,950 to create
an accessible outdoor wildlife educational area by clearing an overgrown pond, planting herbs and shrubs,
installing a path.
Grants for environmental-related
projects form just a small number of today’s awards. In Manchester the Brain
and Spinal Injury centre Ltd charity will be using £8,620 to buy an upper
limb rehabilitation unit to help people who have suffered brain damage. This grant will enable patients
to receive new treatment to improve hand and arm dexterity.
The
Flyde District Scout Council in Lancashire has received £10,000
for its aptly named Phoenix project – the organisation will be buying furniture
and equipment for its headquarters and dormitory block following an arson attack.
A
Liverpool organisation has received £9,578 to develop an internet
radio project for young people to address aggression, bullying and racism in junior football. The Don’t X The Line project will enable young people to discuss these issues to promote tolerance.
Helen
Bullough, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the North West, said: “It’s great to see these groups
all making such positive starts to the year. By improving green spaces and access to the natural environment,
people can lead healthier and happier lifestyles. All projects receiving grants in our region contribute
to their communities in a positive way and we are proud to be able to support them.”
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.
See
a full list of 
grants awarded in the North West Automatically imported picture.
- 83KB today
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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