WIREDGOV

Across Scotland, 175 groups share Lottery funding worth £1.25m. 

A full list of awards is available here

Today the National Lottery’s Awards for All programme is awarding grants totalling£1,254,813 to 175 groups across Scotland.

Thanks to an award of £8,930, The Islands Book Trust will be able to organise a four day community event in June celebrating Colonsay and the life and works of one of its most celebrated residents.  Dr Donald Mackinnon, who died one hundred years ago, was from the island and became the first ever holder of the Chair of Celtic and Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University.  The group will also host a community ceilidh which will bring local people together to celebrate their local heritage.

The Old Pals Group is a group of men over the age of 65 living in and around Campbeltown who meet every week to socialise and reminisce with old friends.  Local charity, Shopper Aide receives £8,400 to buy new equipment that they will use to record the memories and photographs of the men who make up the Old Pals Group. Their memories will also be shared with local historians and a new generation of young people.

Forth Valley Talking Newspaper Association provides a service for around 160 blind people in the area.  The tape duplicating equipment and technology they currently use is more than 20 years old and is no longer being manufactured.  Thanks to an award of £5,774 they will able to buy new equipment for their talking newspaper service.

Based in Cambuslang, the C & R Rock Chorus aims to help people feel less isolated and form new friendships.  Their award of £8,525 means that they can buy new equipment, backing tracks, music stands and PA systems that will be used regularly at the choir’s community shows.  The award also means they will be able to hire four concert venues, including Rutherglen Town Hall, for upcoming performances.

An Awards for All spokesperson, said: “Today’s funding will support a range of community groups across the length and breadth of Scotland. Bringing together people, young and old, they show that a relatively small amount of money can make the biggest of difference. Whether it’s helping older people to feel less isolated or bringing people together to celebrate their heritage these groups will reach out to communities improving lives and bringing fun and friendship to local people.”

Awards for All is the small grants scheme supported by three of the National Lottery good cause distributors in Scotland: Creative Scotland, the Big Lottery Fund and sportscotland. The scheme makes awards of between £500 and £10,000 to grass-roots community groups and voluntary organisations. 

For more information regarding this release please contact: 
Lorna McNiven, Communications Officer
Big Lottery Fund Scotland
0141 242 1451 lorna.mcniven@biglotteryfund.org.uk

For more information on Big Lottery Fund Scotland (including programmes and grants awards):
Visit the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland
Ask Big http://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk/help/scotland
Or call Big Advice Scotland: 0300 1237110

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.
• Awards for All will pause for applications at noon on 9 May and start to accept applications again at noon on 4 August 2014
• The Heritage Lottery Fund left Awards for All on 31^st March 2009. Details of its small grant schemes are available at www.hlf.org.uk.