- Area:
- Wales
- Release date:
- 4 3 2008
A former teacher and Lifelong Learning Director from Rhondda Cynon Taff has been selected to help decide how up to a million pounds a week of Lottery money is invested in improving the lives of thousands of people in communities across Wales.
Gareth Newton, who lives in Aberdare, has joined the Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee and will now support its members in overseeing how millions of pounds of lottery good cause money will be invested throughout Wales between now and 2009.
The Committee has a wealth of experience and Gareth joins Chair Huw Vaughan Thomas, former Chief Executive of Gwynedd and Denbigh Council, Graham Benfield, Chief Executive WCVA, Janet Reed, National Manager in Wales for British Gas, Mike Theodoulou, Executive Chair of Foothold Regeneration Agency and Barbara Wilding, South Wales Police Chief Constable.
Delighted to be a part of the Committee, Gareth commented: “Through many years of personal involvement in the delivery and management of youth work, adult learning and community development, I have seen numerous examples of how Lottery funding has transformed the lives of individuals and their communities. I look forward to playing a part in ensuring that Big Lottery Fund programmes continue to make an impact and reach out to those areas of Wales where disadvantage is particularly entrenched.”
Following 11 years of teaching at secondary schools in Barry and Cardiff, Gareth, a married father of two, joined Mid Glamorgan County Council in 1986 as a full time Community Education Officer. He gained a M.Sc. degree from the University of Glamorgan in the management of education services and was appointed by the University of Wales as an external examiner for the B.A degree in Youth and Community work course at the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, Wrexham.
In 1996, he was appointed by Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council as its Principal Community Education Officer. He subsequently became the Council’s Director of Lifelong Learning in 2000 and held this post until he took early retirement in March 2007.
He is currently a member of the Care Council for Wales’ Registration and Standard Committees and is also a member of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales.
Welcoming the new addition to the Committee, Big Lottery Fund Wales Country Chair, Huw Vaughan Thomas, said: “As a committee member, Gareth will have a golden opportunity to reach out and support people of various ages and abilities in Wales, people from ethnic or minority backgrounds and to also help those facing particular issues or disadvantages in society.”
He added: “I’m looking forward to working with Gareth and utilising his expertise to make important decisions on projects that will have a positive impact on communities throughout Wales and leave a lasting legacy. On behalf of the UK Board, I would like to welcome him to the Committee and hope he enjoys and benefits greatly from the experience.”
The Wales Committee is responsible for strategy, policy, planning, and management of programmes in Wales, within an overall strategic and financial framework determined by the Big Lottery Fund’s UK Board.
The Big Lottery Fund is the largest of the National Lottery good causes distributors and to date has awarded over £600 million in Wales to projects that bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people in need across the country.
For further information about the Big Lottery Fund and how your group can apply for funding, log onto the Big Lottery Fund website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
Further press information:
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
Notes to Editors:
- In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales 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. It was 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 £20 billion has now been raised and more than 250,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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