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Projects benefiting Scotland’s ethnic minority communities are today sharing in £219,071 of National Lottery funding 

A full list of awards made can be found here.

Across Scotland 32 grassroots projects are today celebrating grants of up to £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund through Awards for All and the Scottish Ethnic Communities (SEC) Fund.

Today’s funding announcement means that 81 groups from across the country have now benefited from £500,000 from the SEC fund for projects and services directly benefiting Scotland’s minority ethnic communities.

Giving young people in Glasgow the chance to develop their creative talents is the Fresh Magazine project. The project will use an award of £5,916 to help set up a social enterprise magazine, Fresh, which will connect Asian and other ethnic minority young people to mainstream popular culture.  The group will also provide training placements to 20 local young people to help them gain work experience and learn and share their skills and knowledge.

Dundee Woodcraft Folk will use their award of £10,000 to run a series of cross generation workshops for local people and their parents and grandparents which celebrate the diverse cultures and traditions of black and ethnic minority communities.   Weekly workshops, identified by young people, will run over a 12 month period and will include a range of indoor and outdoor activities from camping to storytelling, cookery skills and drama. 

In Dunfermline, children from a Pakistani minority ethnic background will be able to learn Urdu and more about the culture and traditions of Pakistan, thanks to an award of £2,250 toUrdu School.  Now the group will be able to offer lessons for up to 30 local children.

Glasgow Active Youth Project will use their award of £5,250 to run a number of sporting activities and citizenship classes for local young minority ethnic people over a period of 12 months. The project will work in partnership with local sports centres with the aim of working with a local football club and the active citizenship classes will promote community values, respect and integration.

Ali Khan, roshni Executive Chair, said: “I am delighted to bring such a creative and ambitious concept to Scotland which reflects roshni’s commitment to supporting minority ethnic communities. At roshni we are committed to exploring, promoting and developing opportunities to empower and improve outcomes for minority ethnic communities in Scotland. Passionate about nurturing community spirit, we believe that by giving people the means and confidence both to improve their own circumstances and the lives of others, real social change can be achieved. I would like to congratulate all funded projects and look forward to continuing to support them further to help their ambition become a reality.”

Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Jackie Killeen, said: “I am delighted that through the SEC fund we have been able to provide advice and support to encourage and assist ethnic minority organisations apply for funding. Since the beginning of the year, we have awarded £500,000 to support a range of activities helping people, young and old, to learn new skills and take part in new activities. Today’s funded projects will enable more groups to deliver positive changes for their communities and I wish them every success as they take forward their plans.”

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1451
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglf 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland

Anela Anwar Head of Projects roshni 0141 218 4012 / 07889 177299 anela@roshni.org.uk
For more information on roshni (including projects and services):
Visit the website: www.roshni.org.uk
Facebook: /RoshniCharityScotland
Twitter: @roshniscotland
Email: info@roshni.org.uk
Tel: 0141 218 4010

Notes to editors

• Awards for All is a joint awards programme set up to help small groups. It involves three Lottery distributors: the Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland and sportscotland.
• Awards for All makes grants to help people take part in arts, sport, social, environmental, health related, educational and other community activities. TheScottish Ethnic Communities Fund invested in projects and services that will directly benefit Scotland’s minority ethnic communities. On 24 October an investment of almost £300,000 was made to 46 minority ethnic communities throughout Scotland.