WIREDGOV

Children and families in Scotland are today (10 June) celebrating grants worth £108,822 from the Communities and Families fund, an initiative supported by the Scottish Government and Big Lottery Fund.

Amongst the 13 successful groups is the Tron Theatre, based in Glasgow.  The award of£10,000 means that they will be able to set up a series of play and learning sessions for children and their parents.  The sessions will be based on the theatre’s forthcoming tour of Grimm Tales and will take place in Castlemilk  Community Centre and Barlanark Community Centre.

Thanks to an award of £3,198, Wormit Playgroup, based in Dundee, will be able to develop an arts programme called “Being an Artist” to over 100 children who will work with local artists to produce prints.  These works will be exhibited in the city later this month.

Based in Kincardine, Action for Change Scotland will be able to run a series of environmental workshops for children and their families.  The workshops will be specially designed to allow the families to work together whilst learning how to improve the environment.  The award of£7,300 means the group will be able to run 20 workshops on various topics and organise a family picnic and exhibition of their work in the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow.

Announcing the awards, Maureen McGinn, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund Scotland Committee, said: “The Communities and Families Fund helps projects give Scotland’s future generations a good start in life. I’m delighted to announce funding for today’s wide ranging initiatives which will develop children’s social skills and learning abilities, creativity and confidence. We’re keen to hear from groups across the country which could benefit from this funding. Full details of our simple application process can be found on our website.”

Aileen Campbell, Minister for Children and Young People, said: “The Scottish Government wants Scotland to be the best place in the world for children to grow up and a key part of achieving that involves helping families and communities to flourish.
 
“This joint venture with the Big Lottery Fund will help make that happen by allowing communities to bid for funding to deliver the kind of projects they need to improve the lives of local children and families. It’s good to see once more, the great success of the project with these latest announcements.”  

The Communities and Families Fund has a budget of £4.5 million from The Scottish Government and £1.5 million from the Big Lottery Fund. Groups can apply for funding from £250 to £10,000. To find out more about the scheme and how to apply phone 0300 1237110.

Groups can find full details of the programme and how to apply atwww.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_communities_and_families_fund.< /span>