WIREDGOV

A community group working with young people is the first in Douglas to obtain National Lottery funding from the Our Place initiative.

Last Friday, the RockSolid Youth Project received £372,361 to deliver weekend activities for local young people. Thanks to funds raised by National Lottery players this grant means local young people will use fashion, music and drama workshops, and sports events to build self-esteem, improve physical fitness and develop new skills through accredited training. They will also set up a youth bank to identify community priorities young people can then address through social enterprise activities.

Welcoming the Our Place award Neil Campbell, Director of RockSolid Youth Project, said: “This is fantastic news for the community of Douglas. Young people have taken the lead on consulting, dreaming and designing new youth services for young people in their community. This funding is an amazing achievement and I’m very excited to get started on delivering these new activities with the young people of Douglas.”

Announcing the funding, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “This is a memorable occasion as the people of Douglas celebrate their first Our Place award. Our Place gives local people a say on how National Lottery money should be spent in their area and this project is an excellent example which puts young volunteers in the community at the forefront of these activities. The award of £372,361 will be vital in helping the young people of Douglas to develop new talents and gain improved confidence, and I look forward to hearing more as it progresses.”

Volunteer Becky Milne, 17, is one of the young people who have been involved in developing the plans. She said: “We’ll be able to take part in lots of new free activities and learn life-skills. More people will get involved. It will be great to see people working together and bringing the community together.”

For the latest details on the Douglas Our Place journey visit https://www.facebook.com/Our-Place-Douglas-803675199688983/

Our Place is currently working with seven communities across Scotland, one of which is Douglas in Dundee. Our Place supports communities to develop a common vision of how their own area could develop and grow, and how Lottery Funding could support these changes.

More on the programme can be found here: https://bigblogscotland.org.uk/tag/our-place-2/
 
Big Lottery Fund Press Office contact:
Telephone: 0141 242 1524
Email:     scott.oakley@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Website:   www.biglotteryfund.org.uk 
Twitter:   @BIGSCOTLAND #BigScotland
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland 

Notes to editors:

• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.
• The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
• The Big Lottery Fund Scotland is focussed on helping people and communities most in need throughout Scotland through its five-year £250m funding scheme as well as small grants schemes Awards for All and Investing in Ideas.
• Since March 2007 Big Lottery Fund Scotland has taken devolved decisions on National Lottery spending, the Committee, led by Chair, Maureen McGinn plays a strategic role in the future direction of the Fund in Scotland.
• Since June 2004 we have awarded over £8 billion to projects across the UK that change the lives of millions of people. Every year we fund 13,000 small local projects tackling big social problems like poor mental health and homelessness.