- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- The Peoples Millions
- Release date:
- 18 3 2009
The People’s Millions TV contest launches in Wales today giving communities in the ITV Wales broadcast region a fresh chance to win up to £50,000 in Lottery good cause cash to improve their locality.
Local groups are being invited to join the contest, which opens for entries from today. The People’s Millions partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and ITV Wales gives the voting public the opportunity to decide which local projects will receive lottery good cause funding. The popular contest is now entering its fifth successful year.
This year in Wales, The People’s Millions is offering five awards of up to £50,000 for projects that will enhance local facilities or help people to enjoy their local area. During four nights of competition, a total of £250,000 will be invested in the ITV Wales broadcast area.
The contest is particularly looking for projects that enable local people to get more involved in their community and that are original and imaginative. Previous projects that have been funded include a project by the King George V Playing Fields Association in Carmarthenshire last year to replace redundant play equipment with a modern and safe playground for children and young people in the town of Newcastle Emlyn.
Later in the year, short-listed projects will be showcased on ITV Wales Tonight evening news programme where they will have to convince the public why they deserve the cash. It will then be up to the public to use their vote to decide which groups win the funding.
The People’s Millions is part of BIG’s commitment to involving the public in deciding how Lottery money is spent. In the last five years, the competition has made 18 awards in Wales totalling nearly one million pounds (£990,0000) – part of an overall £18 million that has gone to community projects across the UK through the contest.
Huw Vaughan Thomas, Big Lottery Fund Wales Chair, said: “The People’s Millions is a brilliant chance for local groups and organisations to get funding for a project that will really make a difference to their communities.
“People shouldn’t be daunted by the idea of taking part. Past experience shows that for many groups The People’s Millions is the first time they’ve applied for lottery funding. And often those that think they’ve got little chance of winning are the ones that are successful.
“The key is that the competition puts the public in charge of the Lottery purse strings and, as experts on their communities, lets them decide what local projects should be funded.”
ITV Wales Tonight News presenter, Andrea Benfield, said: “ITV is delighted to be working in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund for the fifth successive year and supporting the People’s Millions. The good work of projects across Wales has proved to be life changing and we've got a quarter of a million pounds to give away in Wales again this year. So, if you're involved with a project that really transforms your local environment or makes your community a better place to live, then we want to hear from you.”
Entry packs for The People’s Millions are available from today by calling the hotline: 08450 10 11 12 or by visiting www.peoplesmillions.org.uk. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2009.
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Officer- Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of Hours contact: 07760 171 431
ITV Press Contact: Sally Holmes on 08448 810 202
Full details of People’s Millions projects can be found at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/peoplesmillions
Notes to Editors
Key People’s Millions dates for forward planning diaries:
15 May 2009: Closing date for applications
28 October 2009: Final project shortlist announced to the media
23-26 November 2009: People's Millions competition televised on ITV
- Since the launch of People’s Millions in 2005, the aim of the contest has been to fund projects that improve the quality of life of local communities through transforming the local environment.
- Telephone voting numbers – As with previous years, ITV and the Big Lottery Fund will use a low cost telephone number. ITV and Big do not make a profit from the voting telephone numbers.
- 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 (BIG), 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 £22 billion has now been raised and more than 300,500 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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