- Area:
- Northern Ireland
- Programme:
- Space and Place
- Release date:
- 7 5 2013
The Big Lottery Fund today announced details of a unique partnership tasked with delivering more than £15 million lottery cash to bring communities in Northern Ireland together by making better use of local spaces and places.
The £15 million Space and Place programme will be delivered by a consortium of experts led by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland. The Award Partner* includes organisations from the voluntary and statutory sectors in Northern Ireland and will support projects that create safe spaces where people of all ages in the community can meet and take part in activities that improve their health.
Space and Place will award grants of between £50,000 and £1 million to communities who want to make better use of new and existing outdoor and indoor spaces, particularly those that are not used enough, are overgrown and neglected, or are seen as only for use by certain groups.
Derelict and neglected spaces will be transformed through the grants which will help give people a sense of ownership and hopefully lead to them developing new skills, ideas and connections.
Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, said: “The Space and Place Consortium put together effective and innovative plans to deliver this programme. There is a demand in Northern Ireland to provide new spaces and places and use existing ones better, particularly those that are currently viewed as underused or difficult for a variety of reasons.
“Space and Place will connect people by helping to develop under-used and difficult and contested spaces, while improving the health and well being of local people by encouraging them to take part in activities in their areas. We will work closely with the Award Partners who are highly experience in their fields and well-placed to effect real change through this programme.”
Avila Kilmurray, Northern Ireland director of CFNI, said: “The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland is proud and excited to be leading the Space & Place Consortium in the delivery of the Space & Place programme.
“This programme will help connect people and communities through the development and reinvigoration of space, both rural and urban, derelict and underused, across Northern Ireland. People’s environments are key to their physical, emotional and cultural well being. With inspirational surroundings people, and communities as whole, are better able to achieve their potential.
“The Space & Place Consortium is dedicated to helping this happen and cannot wait for community-based ideas to come forward; ensuring the programme can have an impact across all of Northern Irish society.”
For more information on how to apply visit www.communityfoundationni.org/spaceandplace
*The Space and Place Consortium is led by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and includes: Groundwork NI, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland Environmental Link and Rural Community Network.
PHOTO/FILM OPPORTUNITY
You are invited to the announcement and launch of the Space and Place Consortium and £15 million programme at:
Crumlin Road Gaol, at 11am on Tuesday 7th May
For further information contact:
Karen Ireland, Press Office Big Lottery Fund: 9055 1426
Mobile: 07788 640 791
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half 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. 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 £24 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
About Space & Place
More detailed information about the programme, including full details of the Space & Place Consortium, as well as guidelines on the application process can be found by visiting www.communityfoundationni.org/spaceandplace
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