Published: 12 Jul 2018
Community groups across Scotland are today celebrating a £794k cash boost, thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players.
A total of 115 groups, from Lerwick to Dumfries, are sharing in £794,384 from National Lottery Awards for All Scotland, which makes grants from £300 to £10,000 to voluntary and community groups across the country.
A National Lottery Awards for All spokesperson said: "This is National Lottery money in action, reaching into communities across Scotland making a real difference to the people who live there. The 115 groups receiving funding today showcases the range of projects that can be funded through this programme and the difference that the smallest amounts of money can make."
Speaking about the awards, Gary Cameron, Head of Place, Partnerships and Communities, said: “We are pleased to be supporting another fantastic range of creative activities through our Awards for All partnership with Big Lottery Fund and sportscotland. These projects again highlight the value of culture and the importance of National Lottery funding to the health and wellbeing of communities across Scotland.”
Here, a selection of recipients talk about what the award means for them and their project.
An award of £7,500 to Cowdenbeath Community Council will bring colour and life to the town centre by creating a range of murals, which have been designed by schoolchildren from Beath High School. As Alex Haddow, Chair of Cowdenbeath Community Council, says, the project will also give local businesses and the wider community a say in the design process.
“We are delighted to be awarded this grant, thanks to National Lottery players which allows us to continue our work.
“Working with a wonderful artist, Kerry Wilson, the whole community has gotten 100% behind this project from school children working on the shutters and helping with designs to shop keepers supporting us and even community police helping to wash the shutters.
“Going forward we want to continue bringing colour and creativity to the town and this award will help us to literally paint the town red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.”
Isla Cattanach, 16, from Beath High School, was one of the students involved in the project, says, “Being able to use our town as a canvas is a fantastic opportunity and makes me feel so proud to be part of this doing something that I really enjoy whilst bringing colour to the town. Everyone loves the artwork and I am so glad to be part of such an exciting and creative project.”
Edinburgh Diwali will use their award of £7,500 to run the third annual Diwali Festival of Lights in November. The festival will focus on the theme of young people and the group will use the funding to run a series of educational workshops for hundreds of schoolchildren across the city.
Founder and President, Edinburgh Diwali, Mohindra Dhall, says: “We have been able to grow and develop our festival, thanks to previous National Lottery funding. Now, this latest grant will help bring us to the attention of a much wider audience meaning we can bring even more communities together.
“We will work with hundreds of school children across Edinburgh helping them to create their own lanterns for the parade which will start from the City Chambers, ending up in Princes Street Gardens. All the children will then be invited to take part on the day with their families and carry the lantern they have made, it will be a very special experience for them.
“We want people not only in the city itself but across Scotland to come to Edinburgh and experience different cultures from other parts of the world. None of this would be possible without this support from National Lottery players.”
In Glasgow, Nordoff- Robbins Music Therapy in Scotland will use their award of £5,454 to host a very special musical event featuring performances from young people who have life shortening conditions.
Executive Director, Nordoff Robbins, Janet Halton said: “We are delighted to have received this funding for our ‘Moving on with Music’ project, which helps the young people we work with not only to access opportunities to make music but also to showcase their creativity and achievements within the wider community.
“These young people, who can often feel isolated by their conditions, will work together to shape the showcase events. It will be such a wonderful opportunity for their friends and families to be part of the journey and to see the young people perform and share their music on stage. This funding will also help us to produce a CD and film of their music, meaning that the legacy of the project will be long lasting.”
Electric is a two-week workshop series for 13-18 year olds, exploring digital technology, games and performance. It's based at Platform Glasgow, and is run by digital, interactive theatre company Produced Moon. Over the course of the project, Produced Moon will explore a number of different techniques, working with raspberry pis, arduino software, electric paint and online app and game building tools.
Melanie Phillips, Co-Artistic Director of Produced Moon, said: "Through conversation with Platform we identified a demand among local young people for opportunities to develop creative and technological skills.
"Produced Moon has previous experience working in Scotland with teenagers and technology, on Switchboard with Biome Collective and SYT. In recognising the demand and with our expertise in this area, the project felt like a really strong and exciting offer to local young people and a stimulating way for us to share our practice.
"The funding has allowed us to engage with a completely new range of technological tools, meaning that we are able to offer something really different and unique to participants, and the opportunity to play with technology they will likely never have seen before. For example, using electric paint to make a touch sensitive light on a piece of paper, or Arduino little bits to create a sound activated waving arm."
Inverurie Music has received funding for its Concert and Workshops (Season 2018-2019). This project comprises six concerts and a series of educational workshops delivered by professional musicians in Inverurie and surrounding areas.
Trustee Margaret Bremner said: "Inverurie Music is an organisation which began in 1999 due to local enthusiasm for high quality live music in the classical tradition performed in rural settings and to a variety of age groups (including working with the local community to arrange concerts in a Value of Age festival).
"The aim to promote educational activities gradually evolved and has become a more important area for Inverurie Music in the last 4-5 years, particularly as there has been a reduction in resources for music in schools.
"The funding from National Lottery Awards for All provides financial support for the professional artists' fees, the cost of venues, and publicity costs for the concerts in September, October and November 2018 and the workshop for Cellists which is planned for 23 September 2018."
For the details on all awards made, see Big Lottery Fund's list of projects in your area.
