WIREDGOV

Eight groups in the ITV Granada region were recently preparing to lock horns to win a share of £250,000 in Big Lottery Fund good cause money in The People’s Millions TV contest.

Five groups in the region will win awards of up to £50,000 each for their community project from The People’s Millions contest, soon to be showcased on ITV Granada’s evening regional news.

This is the fifth year that the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and ITV have given the public the chance to vote on where the lottery good cause cash goes in their region. Projects up for the vote will enhance local facilities, help people to enjoy their local area and enable local people to get more involved in their community.  

The TV contest will see two projects go head-to-head each night in the week of 23 to 27 November. The eight schemes will make their case for the public’s vote to win Lottery funding on ITV Granada’s regional news programme with the winners being decided in a phone vote.

At the end of the week four projects will have won a slice of £250,000 of Lottery good cause cash. The best runner-up with the most phone votes will win a grant to be the final winner, announced on Friday 27 November.

This year across the UK £3.5 million will be awarded by the public through the People’s Millions. Over the last four years the programme has handed out £18.1 million to 318 good causes across the UK with more than 1.6 million people voting for their favourite project.

On Monday, November 23, Whitegate Children's Centre’s Sensory Room (Snoezelen Room) – rompa project from Padiham, Burnley will be battling it out against Warrington Wolves Community Learning and Sport Foundation’s Wolves Camp project in Warrington.

The Sensory Room (Snoezelen Room) – rompa project will create a sensory room which will offer a unique sensory experience to families that have children with disabilities. Baby and toddler groups, childminders and children from the onsite nursery will also be able to benefit from this new facility as well as local community groups. The sensory room aims to stimulate and aid the personal development of those who use the facility.

The Wolves Camp project will deliver a range of sports activities to young people in Warrington throughout the school holidays. The activities will be delivered across six venues within the town and will include sessions for young people with learning  disabilities. Members of the organisation will work alongside volunteers to deliver the project. There will be the opportunity for the young people to gain recognised qualifications whilst taking part in various sports.

And on Tuesday the CancerCare North Lancashire And South Lakeland’s Care to Grow at Slynedales project from Lancaster will be competing against the Adactus Housing Association Limited’s Adactus - Growing Healthy Lives project in Harpurhey, Manchester.

The ‘Care to Grow’ at Slynedales project will create a vegetable and ornamental garden. People with cancer, their families, carers and those who have been bereaved by cancer will use the garden for therapeutic purposes. They will also run events and short courses in the garden such as growing fruit and vegetables organically, sustainable gardening and creating hanging baskets, which will be open to the local community.

The Adactus – Growing Healthy Lives project will transform an overgrown area of land into a community allotment, which will be used as a community hub and a training facility for local residents and the wider community to enjoy. The land will be cultivated and the community allotment will enable local people to grown their own food. Cookery courses will also be offered and young people who get involved will be able to gain an accredited certificate in horticulture, food hygiene and nutrition.

Wednesday 25 November sees Windmill Hill Primary School’s Forest School & Woodland Wildlife Trail project in Runcorn up against Trafford Council’s The 'Greening' of Longford Park project in Trafford.

 The Forest School & Woodland Wildlife Trail project will create a Woodland Wildlife Trail which will include the installation of bat and bird boxes, insect houses and butterfly habitats. The site will also comprise of an ampitheatre for outdoor performances and a tree house. An orchard will also be planted so that the children from the school can learn about growing and cooking regional fruits. The project will also offer a range of activities, workshops and games such as den-building, treasure hunts and bug hunting.

 The ‘Greening’ of Longford Park project will recreate the garden areas of Longford Park and highlight the philanthropic work of John Ryland. The former rose, ornamental, rock and water gardens will be restored and informative educational resources will be placed within the garden. Education packs will be produced for use by local schools. Landscape artists, park staff and local residents will work with pupils from two local schools to design and recreate the gardens which will be used by local schools and by the public.

 On Thursday, the Limeside Friends Of The Park’s Limeside Together project in Limeside, Oldham will battle it out with St Andrew's Methodist Church’s Community Centre Regeneration Project in Winsford, Cheshire.

 The Limeside Together project will improve Limeside Park with the installation of basketball and football equipment. The area was unsuitable for community and sporting activities due to anti-social behaviour and the boggy condition of the ground. The park has now been drained so that the sports facilities can be renovated. The improvements will provide a safe area for young people to play.

 The Community Centre Regeneration Project will renovate the existing community centre facility, which is located within Saint Andrews Methodist Church. The kitchen will be updated through expansion, improvements and new appliances being installed. A disabled toilet will be built in the centre and two currently underused rooms will be updated. The facility will be used by local groups for social activities.

 Telephone voting lines* will open at 9am on the day the projects are due to appear on ITV and winners will be announced the following day.

 Helen Bullough, Big Lottery Fund Head of the North West Region, said: “Now in its fifth year, The People’s Millions contest promises to be as exciting as ever, giving groups the chance to win up to £50,000 in Lottery funding for projects that make a real difference to the local community. Voters in the ITV Granada region will have some tough choices to make in deciding which of the excellent projects going head to head will get their support.”

 John Cresswell, Chief Operating Officer, ITV plc, said: "I am delighted that ITV is continuing its partnership with the Big Lottery Fund on the popular People’s Millions programme. Many local communities across the UK have benefited from millions of pounds in Lottery good cause cash and so much of this has been down to our local viewers supporting their local projects. This year we look forward to helping community groups share in a total of up to £3.5 million."

 Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of Hours contact: 07867 500 572
ITV Press Contact: James Macleod on 020 7156 7236

Full details of Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• *Calls cost 10p per call from BT landlines. Calls from other networks may be higher and from mobiles will be considerably more
• 69 awards are up for grabs including one bonus award in each of the ITV regions. The number of awards available in each region are listed below.

 ITV broadcast regions in the People’s Millions:

ITV Anglia (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Border (3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Central (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Granada (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV London (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Meridian (East of region 3 winners & I bonus award and West of region 3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Tyne Tees(3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Wales (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV West (3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Westcountry (3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Yorkshire (4 winners & I bonus award)
stv Central (4 winners & I bonus award)
stv North (4 winners & I bonus award)
UTV (4 winners & I bonus award)

• Since the launch of People’s Millions in 2005, the aim of the contest has been to fund projects that improve the quality of life of local communities by enhancing facilities, helping people to enjoy their local area and enable people to get more involved in their community.  
• This year BIG has created The People’s Millions website, designed to help groups taking part in the contest to campaign for support. Visit: www.peoplesmillions.org.uk (available from 28 October 2009)
• Telephone voting numbers – As with previous years, ITV and the Big Lottery Fund will use a low cost premium rate telephone number. ITV and Big do not make a profit from the voting telephone numbers.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG 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 £23 billion has now been raised and more than 317,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.