- Area:
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- Programme:
- Big Local Trust
- Release date:
- 29 2 2012
SIX communities in the Yorkshire and Humber region are today being allocated £1million each to spend on making their areas better places to live as part of a pioneering Big Lottery Fund (BIG) scheme to put decision-making power in the hands of local people.
The communities of Barrowcliff in Scarborough; Hawksworth Wood in Leeds; North Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire; Rastrick in Calderdale; Scholemoor and Lidget Green in Bradford; and Thurcroft in Rotherham will get to decide how to spend £1m Lottery funding to improve their local area over the next 10 years. This could include anything from creating new community facilities to starting up training and employment schemes, tackling anti-social behaviour, or providing more activities for young people.
Residents in these areas will also benefit from a range of support, training and networking opportunities to enable them to make best use of their funding.
The money comes from a £200m Big Lottery Fund scheme called Big Local, which aims to give communities a leading role in making decisions about how to improve their area and tackle local problems.
The communities selected to receive the £1m Lottery funding have a history of difficulty in getting support and funding - from the Lottery and elsewhere - and may face a range of issues, for example, the decline of local industry, high unemployment or low average wages, or a pressing need for new support services or activities.
The new funding comes as figures published today reveal that only 14 per cent of English adults feel that that those traditionally responsible for decision-making in local areas - including local councils (10%), government (1%) or local MPs (3%) - know best about what is needed to make their community a better place to live.
The Big Lottery Fund-commissioned YouGov survey shows that the majority of people - 74 per cent - think local people and community groups (local people (55%) charities community groups (8%) or residents associations (11%)) know best.
Vanessa White, Head of the Yorkshire and the Humber region, said: “This funding scheme is going to put residents in these areas at the heart of decision making and give them a real say in how to improve their local area. But more than that it’s going to strengthen these communities and help local people to build on their skills and experience so that they can continue to work together to overcome challenges, address local problems, and make a positive difference in their communities over the next ten years, and beyond.”
The Lottery funded scheme is being managed by Local Trust, a recently established, independent organisation set up by the Community Development Foundation and its consortium partners to run Big Local. They will work in close consultation with residents in each area to support them and offer guidance on their plans.
In the first instance Big Local representatives will bring residents and community organisations in each of the funded areas together to learn about Big Local, create strategies to get people involved and then begin the process of deciding what priorities local people have for the money and setting up a local partnership. They will then work with the areas to help develop a plan to spend the £1m funding over the next 10 years.
Rather than using the money to simply allocate grants for initiatives, residents are encouraged to use different, more sustainable ways of financing, for example giving loans or funding social enterprises, where money could be reinvested in the community.
Debbie Ladds, Chief Executive, Local Trust said: “Big Local is an exciting community initiative working with residents, community groups and others in the Big Local areas across England to help them make their area an even better place to live.
“Local Trust will work with communities and a range of partner organisations to help them identify what matters most to them, and to take action to change things for the better – now and in the future.”
A total of 50 communities in England are being allocated the £1m funding today, bringing the number of areas so far benefiting from the scheme to 100. A further 50 communities will be allocated funding through Big Local by the end of 2012.
One of the first areas in the Yorks and Humber region to benefit from the scheme is the Warwick Ahead initiative in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.
The isolated Warwick Estate is surrounded by fields, a power station and two motorways. The estate suffered considerably after the Pit Closure Programme when many men lost their jobs or were moved to collieries in Selby. As well as job losses, the subsequent closure of the social club spelled an end to annual club trips to the coast, pit sports teams and colliery band. More recently a local school closed and now the estate’s only pub faces closure.
There are no buses from the estate beyond 6pm so older people cannot go out to play bingo and young people cannot go anywhere. But since becoming a Big Local area, the establishment of community activities such as a craft group and cheerleading club have bonded residents young and elderly.
Being a partnership with local media organisation One To One Development Trust, Warwick Ahead has produced a series of poignant and vivid films about life on the estate throughout the past 15 years, and has continued to document changes since it became a Big Local area. These films have been broadcast to residents, who, according to the project, feel empowered to speak out when previously they wouldn’t have had the confidence.
Examples of videos by One To One Development Trust include:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgpR6HXz4bE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVHuz7fJgPs
Warwick Ahead Big Local ideas include:
- Training local people to run a community cafe, and providing meals for older people
- Training residents to coach young people for sports and leisure activities.
- Better transport links for the estate
- Regenerate areas of the estate; over 100 council houses have been demolished to rubble
Another area in the Yorks and Humber region to benefit from the scheme from the 2010 announcement is the Dewsbury Moor initiative in West Yorkshire.
The main issues for residents of Dewsbury Moor, which is comprised of five distinct estates, are unemployment and a lack of safe places for children to play. As part of the consultation, a video was made by Andrassy Media co-production documenting the hopes of residents for the culturally diverse area http://vimeo.com/28764241. Community events which have been organised since Dewsbury Moor became a Big Local area include a community tapestry with local schoolchildren, a family BBQ and a dads and lads cricket event.
Dewsbury Moor Big Local ideas include:
- Refurbish run-down buildings and in the process equip local young people with key construction skills, improving the environment and generating ongoing revenue.
- Put on life skills courses at schools and colleges and in the process raise aspirations
- Explore alternative economic measures, such as local exchange trading systems and time banking
For a full list of awards announced today visit:
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/blocal-phase-2-list.pdf
For a list of the first 50 areas to benefit from Big Local, visit:
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/blocal-phase-1-list.pdf
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 370,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
- YouGov survey: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1723 English adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 14th - 16th February 2012. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all English adults (aged 18+).
- Big Lottery Fund’s £200m Big Local programme was launched in July 2010 when the first 50 communities to benefit from the scheme were announced. Some 150 communities are set to receive at least £1m each over the next decade as part of Big Local. The £200m is being invested as a charitable endowment into an independent trust called Big Local Trust.
- Community Development Foundation (CDF), a charity and social enterprise passionate about helping communities, were appointed to lead a consortium of partners (Capacity Global, CCLA, Institute for Voluntary Action Research, the National Association for Neighbourhood Management, Renaisi, UnLtd) in setting up a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG), which has been named Local Trust. Local Trust will act as Corporate Trustee of the Big Local Trust.
- Local Trust will deliver the Big Local programme on behalf of BIG working on the ground in each of the 150 Big Local areas to help local people make their areas even better places to live now and in the future.
- These Big Local areas have been identified as places where many people face multiple barriers to meeting their needs, and which have a history of difficulty in accessing funding resources in the past.
- More information on Big Local is available at http://www.cdf.org.uk/content/funding-programmes/big-local
- For general enquiries about Local Trust or Big Local please call Amanda Moss, 020 7812 5448, email or Sharon Watson 020 7812 5456, or email: info@localtrust.org.uk
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