The National Lottery Community Fund
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Giant play dough roll-out impacts on children’s lives
The Big Lottery Fund today announced a multi-million pound investment to improve more children’s lives through play.
Some 17 projects across England are sharing £5,597,358 in good cause funding to deliver innovative play schemes, purchase high quality equipment and improve access to play in isolated areas.
Today’s good news for play comes from the Big Lottery Fund’s £124 million Children’s Play programme.
Sanjay Dighe, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund’s England Committee, said: ”This funding is a fantastic investment for children, their families and communities, at a time when the issue of children’s wellbeing is high on the agenda in the UK. Every child deserves the right to a good childhood and play is a vital factor in a child’s physical, emotional and social development. These awards will have a huge impact on children’s lives across England as the Big Lottery Fund continues to make one of the largest-ever investments to the play sector.”
Among the successful projects today is the ‘Play Means Everything’ scheme run by Bridgnorth District Council in the West Midlands. The project has been awarded £200,000 to provide new play equipment and better play areas for local children.
Councillor Les Jones, Bridgnorth District Council Chair of Community Improvement Committee, said:” This award will be the largest single investment in children’s play that our district has ever seen, and will greatly improve the access to and quality of children’s play to all children from toddlers to teenagers. Over 6,500 children will directly benefit from play area refurbishments and new play schemes.”
Children in Cambridgeshire will also benefit from today’s payout. Huntingdonshire District Council has been awarded £300,000 to increase play opportunities for young people across the district. The funding will provide play facilities for 8-13 year olds including skate parks and youth activity clubs.
Councillor Mike Simpson of Huntingdonshire District Council, said: ”Play is about more than just swings and roundabouts. Play and leisure activities improve the skills and confidence and self-esteem of our children and young people. This generous grant will enable us bring half a dozen exciting projects to fruition.”
In the North West, the St Helen’s Council’s ‘Play Lies at the Heart of Every Child’ project has been awarded £475, 434 to provide better play facilities for over 10,000 children. These include a ‘play bus ‘ for local children and providing play shelters for teenagers in the area.
Councillor Shirley Evans, St Helen’s Council Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services, said: ”This is tremendous news and supports the Council’s Children’s Play Strategy which links with the vision that and aspiration that play lies at the heart of every child.”
The table below lists all 17 awards announced today, totalling £5,597,358.
| Local Authority | Award |
|---|---|
| Bolsover District Council, East Midlands | £200,000 |
| London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, London | £570,633 |
| Boston Borough Council, East Midlands | £200,000 |
| London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London | £428,864 |
| Bridgnorth District Council, West Midlands | £200,000 |
| Maidstone Borough Council, South East | £274,141 |
| Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Yorkshire and Humberside | £731,010 |
| Northampton Borough Council, East Midlands | £454,994 |
| Hambleton District Council, Yorkshire and Humberside | £199,710 |
| Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, South East | £233,324 |
| Hertsmere Borough Council, East England | £201,185 |
| St Helens Council, North West | £475,434 |
| Huntingdonshire District Council, East England | £300,000 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, West Midlands | £199,875 |
| Hyndburn Borough Council, North West | £240,000 |
| Stockton on Tees Borough Council, North East | £488,188 |
| Kennet District Council, South West | £200,000 |
Further information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
The Big Lottery Fund will support children’s play with £155 million through:
- the £124 million Children’s Play programme, with funds available to every local authority area in England;
- a separate £16 million Playful Ideas programme focussing on innovation; and
- a £15 million grant to the Children’s Play Council, part of the National Children’s Bureau, to fund England-wide development and support.
- Under the Children’s Play programme, in deciding how best to allocate the available funds to each authority the Big Lottery Fund have allocated: 50 per cent of the funding on the basis of child population, and 50 per cent of the regional population living in the most deprived 20% of Super Output Areas included in the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004. The minimum amount allocated to any local authority is £200,000.
- Under Playful Ideas registered charities; voluntary or community groups; charitable or not-for-profit companies; social enterprises; and town and parish councils can apply. However, other organisations, such as schools, can work in partnership on Playful Ideas projects.
- The Big Lottery Fund awarded a grant to the Children’s Play Council a strategic alliance of organisations working to promote the importance of play and to stimulate better play opportunities. Play England - a project of the Children’s Play Council - lead on this work by helping agencies to develop play strategies and apply for Children's Play funding. For further information please visit www.ncb.org.uk
- The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in lottery good cause money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
