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Scottish community groups are set to enjoy a fabulous range of summer fetes and festivals, thanks to a bumper round of Lottery grants announced today (TUES 24 MAY). Across the country 185 groups will bring local people together to celebrate the start of summer with £1,348,056 from Awards for All Scotland.

Find out where funding has gone in your area

People in Angus will be able to attend a full day of celebration to highlight the bravery and commitment of the Armed Forces and Emergency Services, thanks to an award of £10,000 to Arbroath’s Festival of Heroes. The Festival will take place in Victoria Park on Saturday 4 June and will include a parade, awards ceremony and gala day.

Jamie Buchan, Event Chairman, Arbroath’s Festival of Heroes, said: “We set out seven months ago to put on a fantastic free event to the public to celebrate the commitment our armed forces and emergency services give to our country and communities.  This award, along with money we have been able to raise locally, makes this a reality.  We were initially gobsmacked at the generosity shown by Awards for All and want to thank them so much for this phenomenal support.”

Stramash Stornoway will continue to run their popular outdoor music festival for people in the Western Isles with an award of £10,000.  Local musicians of all ages will have the chance to hone their creative talents and performance skills whilst getting the invaluable experience of playing their music to a live audience.

Paul Matheson, Chairman, Stramash Stornoway, said: “We’ve come a long way in the last four years but had reached a point where we could go no further due to the lack of facilities available in the local community.

“This Awards for All grant is a dream come true as it allows us to buy our own marquee where we can now hold our annual music festival which provides a platform for local musicians to perform at and a place for volunteers to come together and learn new skills.

“This award has meant that our main event, ‘Stramash’ will be feature on the calendar for many years to come and provided a much needed marquee for many other community events.”

Children in nurseries across Clackmannanshire will be able to take part in Olympic and Paralympic themed events, thanks to an award of £8,589 to Clackmannanshire Council - Education and Learning.  In the lead up to the event each nursery will represent a competing country and will explore its culture through language and singing and dancing and storytelling.

Jackie Stevenson, Manager, Active Start, said, “It’s wonderful to see the children coming along taking part along with their peers. All the activities are laid out in stations and the children have the chance to take part in a range of 10 sports from cycling to golf. We expect that around 1,000 children from nurseries across the region will be there as well as our staff, parents and volunteers.”

An Awards for All Scotland spokesperson, said: “The smallest amount of funding can often make the biggest difference to communities across the country. Today’s £1.3m investment will help projects across Scotland organise a wide range of events which will bring people of all ages together to celebrate, sing, dance and take part in a range of fun activities over the summer months.”

Awards for All Scotland gives out grants of between £500 and £10,000 to projects that bring communities together to enjoy a range of activities. It is a partnership by sportscotland and Big Lottery Fund. Groups can download this form here www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/awardsforallscotland

Big Lottery Fund Press contact: Lorna McNiven
Telephone: 0141 242 1451
Email:         lorna.mcniven@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Website:     www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter:       #bigscotland 
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland

Notes to Editors:

• Awards for All is a joint awards programme from the Big Lottery Fund 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 welcomes applications and focuses on funding smaller organisations with an annual turnover of less than £250k (except for schools).