WIREDGOV

Art workshops celebrating children’s creative talents and healthy cooking classes bringing children and parents together are amongst the latest 16 projects across Scotland sharing £109,509 yesterday (MON 15 FEB) from the Communities and Families Fund. 

Based in Fife, Wormit Playgroup will use their £4,495 grant to run artist led workshops which will include photographic imaging and mixed media for 120 pre-school children. The final art work will be showcased at a public exhibition in Newport-on-Tay. 

Ann Sinclair, Artists Representative, Wormit Playgroup, said:  We are extremely grateful to the Big Lottery for providing the funds to enable us to run our Being An Artist project. The theme of the event is ‘Landscapes and Living Spaces’ and is aligned to Scotland’s Year Of Architecture, Innovation and Design 2016. On 27th and 28th February, over one hundred local playgroup, nursery and primary school children will attend workshops run by local professional artists, art students and parent volunteers. The children will prepare three-dimensional models and photographs which will be exhibited in a local art gallery on 12th and 13th March. The older children will help to plan to exhibition. The children, their families and friends and the wider local community will feel an enormous sense of excitement and pride in seeing the work exhibited in such a professional setting.”

In Perth and Kinross, Horsecross Arts Limited will use their £7,600 award to deliver a 30 week creative learning programme for 200 children under the age of five.  The award will fund tutor costs and programme materials.

Noelle Cobden, Head of Creative Learning, Horsecross Arts Ltd, said: “We are so pleased to receive support from the Communities and Families fund for our Little Stars: Creative Play project. This funding will enable us to work with over 200 children (2-4yr olds) across Perth and Kinross, providing them the opportunity to work with professional artists to learn, play and develop their creativity. The project will target children who, due to rural location and/or family circumstance, may not otherwise have access to high quality artistic experiences.”

Based in Aberdeenshire, an award of £9,780 to Garioch Community Kitchen will enable 540 children under the age of five to take part in cooking and healthy eating workshops with their parents.  The funding will go towards food costs, sessional fees and publicity.

Sarah Bell, Manager, Garioch Community Kitchen, said: “We are delighted with the news that we have secured funding to carry out such important work with such a lot of young people in our local community. We are very excited to get the project started and start making a real difference!”

In Falkirk, the St Andrews Church of Scotland, Bo’ness, will run play and cookery sessions for 68 local children under the age of eight, thanks to an award of £8000.   The funding will go towards healthy foods, minibus hire, volunteer training and sessional staff.

Dianne Collins, Children and Family Worker, St Andrews Church of Scotland, Bo’ness, said: “The team, children, parents, carers and community are overjoyed and feel so excited to be receiving this generous grant. The Communities and Families award will bring stability for the programme, enabling us to continue supporting early years work for parents and their children. This grant will enable us to develop the therapeutic after school groups for primary aged children, including family work to sustain positive changes for the children and families within our community.

Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Children and Young People, said: “This joint venture between the Scottish Government and the Big Lottery Fund has been a resounding success, providing vital resources for groups working directly with children and families. It’s great to hear from Horsecross Arts Limited, Garioch Community Kitchen and St Andrews Church of Scotland about the opportunities this fund is providing and how it contributes towards improving life chances for children. I’d encourage local groups to apply for funding before the deadline at the end of this month.”

Maureen McGinn, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund Scotland Committee, said yesterday: “Today’s awards are wonderful examples of the variety of projects which we can fund through this small grants scheme. Children will have the opportunity to express themselves creatively through art workshops and others will be able to get involved in cooking a healthy meal.  It's clear that small amounts of funding directed to great work can often make the biggest difference to children and families."

Since 2012 Communities and Families Fund has supported groups working with young people aged under eight distributing £4.5 million from Scottish Government and £1.5 million from Big Lottery Fund. The programme closes to applications on Monday 29thFebruary 2016.

Please see here for the full list of awards. 

Big Lottery Fund Press contact: Adele Goodfellow 
Telephone: 0141 242 1508
Email: adele.goodfellow@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @adelegoodfellow #biglottery
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland

Notes to Editors:

• The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
• In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was awarded to projects. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.