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With the 2014 Commonwealth Games just around the corner, community groups from Edinburgh and the Lothians are gearing up for their own Games inspired events thanks to National Lottery funding.

265 groups from across Scotland are sharing in grants of up to £10,000 from the Celebrate and 2014 Communities funds for a range of sports, arts, heritage and community Games inspired activities.

A full list of all projects sharing in funding is available
 
Announcing the awards totalling £967,245 Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Jackie Killeen, said: “Today’s awards from the Celebrate and 2014 Communities funds will bring communities together to enjoy a range of events such as Queen’s Baton relay races, street parties, arts exhibitions and heritage projects highlighting local links to Commonwealth Countries. In doing so they will help ensure that communities across Scotland benefit from the 2014 Games.”

Amongst the successful groups is the Trust Housing Association Ltd which receives a Celebrate award of £9,250 to set up reminiscence groups for older people at six sheltered housing complexes and community settings across Edinburgh. This will encourage new friendships, as well as capturing memories of sport in Edinburgh which will culminate in a public exhibition at Lifecare’s community centre cafe in Stockbridge.

Mary Thompson, Service Manager, Trust Housing Association, said: “We are eager to get this fantastic project up and running in Edinburgh. It’s a great way to engage any isolated tenants, link to the Commonwealth Games and encourage conversations and new friendships as well as to trigger and capture memories of sport in Edinburgh. The groups will be focussed on capturing memories of watching, playing or supporting sport in Edinburgh, including the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games of 1970 and 1986. The project will involve engagement with young people from local primary and secondary schools, with older students recording the stories for online and printed material and younger pupils recording shorter stories and adding their own illustrations.”

The Southside Elderly Club receives a Celebrate award of £3,200 to hold a Chaand Raat celebration event in July 2014. Chaand Raat is a time of celebration to mark the end of Ramadan. The event will be aimed at women who have family and cultural links with Pakistan but will also be open to the wider community.

Malik Masood, Co-ordinator, Southside Elderly Club, said: “This funding will help towards our Chand Raat which will be filled with lots of activities such as henna painting, clothes and jewellery stalls and traditional dancing. We are delighted to receive this award to help us celebrate the end of Ramadhan and to involve more females from the Asian community.”

The Scottish Centre of PEN International receives a Celebrate award of £7,021 to host 12 literary workshops with schools from across Edinburgh. These workshops will explore a range of themes including Scotland’s involvement with the colonies and slavery and the spread of Gaelic in Canada. Students will be encouraged to submit the writing which results from the workshops to a national writing competition.

Drew Campbell, President of The Scottish Centre of PEN International, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded funding from the Celebrate fund and thank all Lottery players for making it possible.  The workshops will bring the 2014 Commonwealth Games Culture Scottish PEN Presents events to the attention of interested young adults, giving them the opportunity to celebrate their local area's links with countries around the world, and to reflect on the connections that Scotland's literary and linguistic history shares with other cultures.”

Many of the funded projects will also encourage more people to take up sport and physical activity. Balgreen Primary School in Edinburgh receives a grant of £1,810 from the 2014 Communities fund to deliver a programme of sporting activities for girls who do not generally participate in physical activities inside or outside of school.

Fiona Christie, Head Teacher, Balgreen Primary School, said: “We are delighted to be offered a grant from the Big Lottery Fund to promote the participation of girls in sport and exercise.  The money will be used to establish an after school girls club for primary 5 to 7 pupils.  Girls, who have limited participation in active clubs, will be asked about the types of activities they would like and the award will allow us to hire coaches and buy equipment.”

Celebrate i s a joint programme from all four Scottish Lottery Distributors: Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund and sportscotland. It supports one off arts, heritage, sports and community events to celebrate the people, places and culture of the Commonwealth and of the Games themselves.

2014 Communities awards Big Lottery Fund grants to projects that introduce Scots of all ages to a wide range of physical activities, volunteering opportunities and healthier lifestyles.

Details of the wide range of 2014 legacy projects supported by the Big Lottery Fund are available at http://bigblogscotland.org.uk/2014/02/24/our-2014-legacy/

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1483 or 1451
Out of hours media contact: 07795 454 924
Website:www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter:@BIGScotland #biglf 
Facebook:www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland

Notes to editors

• Celebrate is a £4 million joint awards programme from the four Scottish Lottery distributors: Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland Heritage Lottery Fund and sportscotland
• Celebrate allows communities across Scotland to apply for up to £10,000 to organise events that celebrate the 2014 Commonwealth Games through arts, heritage, sports, community and local celebrations or events that celebrate the people places and culture of the commonwealth.
• 2014 Communities, run by the Big Lottery Fund, is a micro grants programme, offering local sports clubs, voluntary and community organisations, community councils and schools grants of £300 to £2,000 to support and stimulate grass roots involvement in sport and physical activity.  
• 2014 Communities is about building a legacy of well-being before and beyond the Commonwealth Games. It aims to encourage more people to take part or volunteer in sport or physical activity as well as encourage greater community cohesion in the run up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes 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 June 2004. The Fund was formally 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 £30 billion has now been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment