£1.1 million of National Lottery cash for community groups in Wales

15 Jun 2017 11:47 AM

Projects supporting people with muscular diseases, supporting students’ mental health, and educating communities on environmental waste through theatre are among those benefiting this month from National Lottery Good Causes money.

274 projects receiving a share of £1,118,547 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All small grants programme. (For details of all awards, please click here.)

The grants have been made possible thanks to National Lottery players’ tickets purchases.

In Carmarthenshire, Myaware South Wales Support Group will use £4,987 to provide further support to people living with myasthenia and their carers. Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disease that leads to weakness in skeletal muscles.

Sarah Sanders, of the project said: “‘Myaware South Wales are delighted and extremely grateful to receive a grant for £4986.20 from the Big Lottery Fund. Myaware supports people living with rare auto-immune disease myasthenia.

“The South Wales support group plan to hold an information day with specialist guest speakers, develop their support group meetings and raise vital awareness of the condition with local healthcare professionals. They hope that this will reduce the time it can take to receive an accurate diagnosis and improve the level of care and support that people with myasthenia receive”.

In North Wales,  Bangor University Student's Union, in Gwynedd, receive £5,000 develop a peer-to-peer support programme for students at the University, including a student mentor scheme and suicide prevention training programme, to improve the support available to students.

Elsewhere, Side by Side in Caerphilly will use £3,270 to setup a choir for those affected by Autism. Fio in Cardiff will use £5,000 to host a series of theatre workshops, to encourage integration and interaction between the different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds of Porth and Cardiff.

In North Wales, The Castle Players Amateur Dramatic Society Of Beaumaris in Anglesey will use £1,550 to educate the public about the effect that plastic waste has on the environment through a series of interactive activities and puppet shows. Wifi Connections Ltd in Rhyl will use £5,000 to expand their Digital Rhyl project, in which they address barriers to digital inclusion, recycle old IT equipment, and deliver IT sessions to people most in need.

Gareth Williams, Awards for All Programme Manager for the Big Lottery Fund in Wales, said: “Awards for All is having a positive impact throughout Wales.

“Money is helping to establish groups, societies and clubs, promoting learning, increasing volunteering opportunities and helping to build stronger communities.”

Available in English and Welsh, application forms are available to download from www.awardsforall.org.uk or by phone on 0345 4 10 20 30

Further Information:

Alex Davies - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 029 2067 8236
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030                          
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywales
Find BIG on Facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwales

Notes to Editors:

• 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. 
• Since June 2004 we have awarded over £6.5billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 500,000 grants awarded.