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Have your say on £8.8 million of Lottery money in your communities

Sixteen transformational community projects across Wales are inviting the general public to help shape their plans, worth up to £2 million each.

Sixteen projects across Anglesey, Caerphilly, Conwy, Flintshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Wrexham are asking people in their communities how they would like to see their local environment improved.

They are each receiving a share of £290,850 as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s £8.8 million Create Your Space programme. (For details of all awards, please click here).

They have each received grants of up to £20,000 to help develop their ideas in partnership with their communities that will support them in making an application for full funding of between £500,000 and £2 million.
 
Among them are Brymbo Heritage Group in Brymbo, Wrexham. They are wanting to hear from people in their community about Wrexham’s network of Council run country parks, several of which also have brownfield origins. Their initial work has identified five spaces that they’d like to develop into usable public open spaces.

Colin Davies, Chair of Brymbo Heritage Group, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to get through to this second stage. Can’t wait to get stuck in with people, groups and ideas from our village and those around us that share our joint industrial heritage. These spaces formed us over successive generations, now it’s our turn to reclaim them and make them work for us for generations to come.”

Golygfa Gwydyr in Conwy is wanting to hear from people about access to, and usage of, natural land resources in rural Conwy to promote sustainable communities with enhanced wellbeing and sense of place. They have four sites, within 10 miles of Llanrwst, that the project will be based around each with unique aims and objectives for their community.

Roger Davies, Company Secretary of Golygfa Gwydyr, said: “There are huge areas of woodland in Wales that are in public ownership but are either undermanaged or under commercial operation. Neither of these directly benefits local communities. Golygfa Gwydyr, in partnership with Natural Resources Wales, has reached an agreement that opens up an 
area of the Gwydyr Forest as a resource contributing to sustainable communities.

“Our Create your Space project will enable this through raising capacity and skills and through management plans and activities that allow for community intervention. The project will ensure that our woodlands provide social, economic and environmental benefits locally and allow communities to shape our woodlands to meet specific local needs.”

Lylac Ridge, in Newport wants to hear from people about a 20 acre site in Caerphilly of which 4 acres is currently being used for animal therapy projects. They will transform the remaining 16 acres to provide a range of environmental projects to improve biodiversity and ensure that individuals are actively involved in protecting and nurturing habitats.

Kim Griffiths, Director at Lylac Ridge, said: “Lylac Ridge would like to thank the Big Lottery Fund for awarding Lylac Ridge a £20,000 development grant to support the development of our ‘Eco Life’ project.  We can’t begin to say how pleased and proud we are to receive this grant and the trust put in us. This will allow us to build on our own current research and give an opportunity to make our community project a reality in the Caerphilly Borough. 
 
“Eco Life, is an environmental project that will provide improved bio-diversity, ensuring people are actively involved in protecting and nurturing habitats, organic Food growth, land based projects and bee keeping. The ‘Eco Life’ project will improve and provide a welcoming outdoor space where people of all ages and abilities can come together and feel a sense of ownership of the community in which they live and to make a real difference to their community.  There will also be opportunities to receive accredited training and to improve people’s skills.

“Lylac Ridge looks forward to the next six month researching and developing the project further with everyone within the Caerphilly Borough.”

The Create Your Space programme is funded jointly by the Big Lottery Fund as well as Dormant Accounts money (Dormant Accounts funding comes from bank and building society accounts that have not been used in over 15 years). The Dormant Accounts money will be spent in line with directions issued by Welsh Ministers on its use for community based projects to tackle the causes and consequences of climate change.

The initiative will help support communities to come up with their own vision and plan, for conserving and enhancing their local natural environment in a way which meets their needs and those of future generations. This is in line with the goals outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act and the Environment (Wales) Act which have the aim of bringing about multiple benefits to improve the social, economic, and cultural well-being of Wales.

Rita Singh, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee member, said: “The ‘Create Your Space’ programme will support Welsh communities to become stronger and more engaged with their local environment by helping them to achieve a unique vision that will benefit them and future generations.

By supporting communities to transform their local natural environments in their own vision we are delivering on our promise to use National Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, and to leave a lasting legacy.”

For The Big Lottery Fund’s latest funding and programme news, please sign up to its newsletter at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/ebulletinwales

Further Information:

Alexander Davies - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 029 2067 8236
Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 0735 | Textphone:  0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow Big Lottery Fund Wales on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywalesGoes to different website
Find Big Lottery Fund Wales on Facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwalesGoes to different website

Notes to Editors:

  • The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes. 
  • Since June 2004 we have awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people. Every year we fund 13,000 small local projects tackling big social problems like poor mental health and homelessness.
  • Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.
  • Create Your Space is a jointly funded programme from the Big Lottery Fund and Dormant Accounts money
Channel website: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

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