Coldstream youth project gets the BIG thumbs up

Area:

Scotland

Programme:

Young People's Fund Scotland

Release date:

9 3 2007

The Young People’s Fund has £20 million for projects run for and by young people aged 11 to 25. Today’s award of £32,000 to the Coldstream Community Trust will contribute to the salary of a full time Youth Project Manager. This will enable the trust to continue to provide after school and holiday clubs for young people aged 11 to 16. Activities on offer will include arts and crafts, football and yoga and cookery classes to help young people develop a range of practical skills.

Councillor Jock Law, Chair of the Coldstream Community Trust, said: “This Big Lottery Fund award is great news for the Community Trust and for the young people of Coldstream.  It shows that our work is recognised and valued, and it will let the staff get on with the job of working with our young people, confident that the Youth Clubs, After School Club and Holiday Clubs will have secure funding for staff salaries.

“This is the third major grant we’ve had recently which is spread over 3 years, and it’s the kind of funding that allows us to look ahead to a sustainable future.  We are particularly relieved to have secured this vote of confidence at a time when youth projects are being forced to struggle increasingly hard to find funding.”

Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Dharmendra Kanani, said: “The Young People’s Fund is about changing the way in which organisations work with and respond to young people. It’s about making sure that young people are given the tools and opportunities to make decisions about the things that affect their lives. I am pleased that the Coldstream Community Trust has picked up funding today. The project will enable young people to learn new skills outside of school hours.”

Also picking up funding today - an award of £68,952 - is Dumfries and Galloway Council. Over the next three years around 500 pupils from Dalbeattie High School will work with the local amateur theatre-company, Birchvale Players, and professionals from a theatre group, TAG Ltd, to fully understand the process of staging a production. Pupils will also have the opportunity to be involved in an enterprise project to market the production.

Further information

Contact Landa Rolland at the Big Lottery Fund Scotland Press Office on: 0141 242 1458 or 07789 033457
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
• On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £19.5 billion has now been raised and more than 250,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

Scotland

The Big Lottery Fund has £275 million to invest in Scotland’s communities before 2009 as follows:

• £231 million for the Fund’s Unified Investment Plan (Investing in Communities)*
• £20 million for the Young People’s Fund
• £24 million for Awards for All (until 2006)

The Fund’s future funding plans are detailed in the manifesto ‘Investing in Communities'.

The Young People’s Fund (Scotland) is a £20 million programme open for applications until August 31st 2007. It aims to help young people aged 11-25 learn new things and take part in healthy and positive activities that make them feel good about themselves. Young people themselves are involved in every aspect of the programme including making the decisions.

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