WIREDGOV

Five community groups across Northern Ireland are set to compete for up to £50,000 of National Lottery funding each. The People’s Projects is giving these groups a chance to go head to head compete in a public vote to help them make an extraordinary difference to their community. 

For 13 years, the Big Lottery Fund, UTV and The National Lottery have been teaming up to give the public a chance to decide where National Lottery money should go in their local area. The Big Lottery Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players to communities across the UK. 

Voting opens at 9am on Monday 16 April at www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk. 

UTV Live evening news will feature the projects at 6pm over five nights, starting on Monday 16 April when the Book Buddies project by Pawzitive in Co Down will be featured. If successful, this community group, who use trained dogs to encourage children to read, will receive £50,000 to extend their reading programme to new primary schools in the Co Down area. 

On Tuesday it will be the turn of Erne Craftie Women project by Fermanagh Rural Community Initiative in Enniskillen. They hope to receive £49,920 for a project to skill isolated women up to restore donated or abandoned furniture. The women will develop creative and job skills and feel part of the community. 

On Wednesday the Get Up and Go Green project from Longstone Special School PSA in Dundonald will be showcased. They are competing for £41,380 to create a community garden and run workshops to raise awareness of the environment. The garden will also be open to residents and other schools and community groups. 

On Thursday UTV Live will feature the Huddle Project from uHub Therapy Centre. The group, who run an after school drop-in for children with ASD and their siblings, hope to receive £50,000 to expand their support across North Down and Ards to help more young people with behavioural, communication and other needs. 

The final project on Friday will be Multi Sport for Multi Abilities from Superstars Club in Cookstown. If successful, they will receive £50,000 to run a year-long programme of physical activities for young people and adults who have learning and physical disabilities to improve their health and self-confidence. 

The three projects with the most public votes across the campaign period will receive grants of up to £50,000 each. 

UTV On-Screen Journalist Paul Reilly said: “The People’s Projects is an exciting opportunity for you to make a real difference to your community. We are showcasing some fantastic shortlisted projects across Northern Ireland this week. All you have to do to get involved is tune in and vote for your favourite project.” 

Julie Harrison, Big Lottery Fund Northern Ireland Chair, said: “We are proud to support grassroots groups that are using the vision, determination and drive of local people to strengthen communities. The People’s Projects showcases the best of these and is a chance for you to have your say on how National Lottery funding can benefit your local community.” 

Designed to celebrate some of the incredible projects the Big Lottery Fund has supported over the past year, 95 community-based groups have been shortlisted across the UK. In each region, the three with the most public votes will receive grants of up to £50,000. This will help them to continue their work to bring people together, build stronger communities and make a difference to people’s lives. The entire amount up for grabs across the UK is a life-changing £3 million. 

Since 2005, around £39 million has been awarded through the Big Lottery Fund, National Lottery and ITV/STV partnership to 865 Good Causes across the UK. 

Voting closes at midday on Monday 30 April 2018 and the results will be announced Thursday 3 May 2018. People can vote once per region and will need an email address to vote*. To vote and for Ts & Cs please visit www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk 

Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk  www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk
Twitter: @biglotteryfund #peoplesprojects #NationalLottery 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

For funding and general enquiries call in Northern Ireland: 
02890 551 455 

For press enquiries call Lucy Gollogly or Rachel Skinner on: 
02890 551 432 or 02890 551 450 
Out of hours media contact: 07580 811 135 

About the Big Lottery Fund and The People’s Projects

*People without email addresses can vote by post by sending a postcard to ‘Freepost THE PEOPLE’S PROJECTS’. To be counted, the following details must be written on the postcard: name, address, telephone number and the name of the project voted for. Please send your postal vote by last post Wednesday 25 April 2018. Postal votes must be received by noon on Monday 30 April 2018. 

• National Lottery players have raised more than £37 billion for good causes across in the UK in the form of 525,000 grants since 1994. 
• Each week, The National Lottery generates, on average, £30 million for National Lottery-funded projects – in total £37 billion has now been raised and more than 525,000 individual grants have been made across the UK, the biggest programme of civic and social regeneration since the 19th Century. The National Lottery has so far given away over £65 billion in prizes and created more than 4,750 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994. 
• For further information on The National Lottery and its games, please visit: www.national-lottery.co.uk 
• Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 16 or over. 
• The People’s Projects is a partnership between Big Lottery Fund, ITV, STV and the National Lottery which gives the public the chance to have a say in how National Lottery funding is spent in their community. 
• The initiative funds projects that improve the lives of people and communities across the UK. 
• This year 57 awards of up to £50,000 are up for grabs across the UK – three awards in each ITV region. 
• For more information on shortlisted groups and voting visit www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk. 
• Big Lottery Fund uses money raised by National Lottery players to help communities achieve their ambitions. From small, local projects to UK-wide initiatives, our funding brings people together to make a difference to their health, wellbeing and environment. Since June 2004 we have awarded £8.5 billion to projects that improve the lives of millions of people.