Funding boost for Northern Ireland groups from Awards for All

20 Jul 2017 12:57 PM

Families across Northern Ireland are celebrating after benefiting from National Lottery funding.

A total of 85 groups across Northern Ireland are sharing in £746,713 from Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme (See a full list of awards)

Fermanagh Rural Community Initiative, which provides training and work experience opportunities to people in the Fermanagh area, has been awarded a £9,958 grant. They are using the funding for a joinery project for women who will restore furniture and create furniture from recycled timber.

Growth for Adolescents and Providing Support, which is based in Lurgan, provides activities to improve the mental health and physical wellbeing of young people. The project has received a £3,955 grant to help young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder to improve their balance and motor skills and increase their chances of being able to ride a bike.

Jointz - Arthritis Care NI, based in Belfast, provides support to children diagnosed with arthritis, their parents and family. They received £9,582 to provide activities including family fun days, residential weekends for teenagers, seminars for parents, and cognitive behaviour therapy sessions for parents.

Also receiving funding is Focus on Family, based in Ballysally in Coleraine. They run a family centre providing support and activities to families in the area. They are using an £8,918 grant to run the Mind, Body & Soul project which is a year-long programme of weekly themed activities and events supporting people with mental ill-health.

Julie Harrison, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, said: “I am delighted to announce these grants under the Awards for All programme and I want to say thanks to all the National Lottery players who have helped make this possible.

“Awards for All funds health, education, environment and community projects that help people bring about positive change in their lives, improve health and well-being, develop skills and create safer communities.

“The application process is simple and accessible and shall remain so, making it easy for applicants to successfully apply for small pots of funding that can have such a big impact on local communities and lives.”

Application forms and guidance notes are available to download at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk. For more details call us on 028 9055 1455, or e-mail us at enquiries.ni@biglotteryfund.org.uk

For media enquiries, contact Rachel Skinner or Lucy Gollogly at the Big Lottery Fund Press Office on 028 90 551 450, 028 90 551 432

Out of Hours Media Contact: 0774 7532846, 07580 811135
Website: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/northernireland

Twitter: @BIGNIonline #Nationallottery

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundNI

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, £35 billion has been raised and more than 490,000 grants awarded.