Welsh youngsters get in on the act with Make it Happen

Area:

Wales

Programme:

Young People's Fund Make it Happen

Release date:

22 10 2007

Four projects developed by young people themselves share in a total of £19,646 awarded through the Make it Happen strand of the Young People’s Fund. Make it Happen helps Welsh young people aged 10–19 years old to make positive changes to their lives.

The money will help provide activities for youngsters from a range of different backgrounds. The projects aim to get their creative juices flowing and focus on developing new skills and providing new opportunities that many would otherwise be unable to enjoy.

It’s lights, camera, action for Llantwit Major School in the Vale of Glamorgan. They will spend their £5,000 award to enable an extra curricular drama club to experience the filming and production of a short film on issues affecting their peer group and the local community.

Members of Clwb Ieuenctid Llanpumsaint Youth Club near Carmarthen are also looking forward to taking part in action packed activities thanks to their award of £4,486. The money is providing Llanpumsaint youths with opportunities that would not normally be available to them. The project will provide them with a chance to explore their creative talents through special drama and dance workshops. The grant will also help pay for a trip to London and enable the youngsters to take part in team activities such as horse riding and paint balling.

In a project encompassing the whole of Wales, the Tros Gynnal organisation will spend their award of £4,900 on a venture to support a young people’s advisory group and a residential weekend for young people who have accessed the groups' services.

Thanks to the £4,900 awarded to the Children In Wales - Plant Yng Nghymru organisation, based in Cardiff, youngsters will organise two special events for young disabled people all over Wales, which will help build their capacity by increasing their confidence and self-esteem.

Highlighting the importance of the Make it Happen programme, the Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee member and Chair of the Young People’s Fund Committee, Mike Theodoulou, said: “The projects will provide youngsters with an opportunity to learn valuable new lessons, be creative, develop new and exciting skills and express themselves in a safe environment. This is a prime example of how small amounts of money can make a big difference, by helping groups to develop a range of skills and take part in a variety of activities.”

For further information about the projects, and contact details for the groups and organisations involved, please contact the Big Lottery Fund Wales press office by email or on the numbers below.

For further information about the Big Lottery Fund and how your group can apply for funding, log onto the Big Lottery Fund website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk and use the ‘Wales’ specific search facility. Alternatively, you can telephone the Big Lottery Fund office on 01686 611 700.

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 280,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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