When you’re clutching your lottery ticket and dreaming of how to spend those millions, it’s important to remember that by simply playing the Lottery, you’re making a positive contribution to your community in so many ways.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year (2023/24) The National Lottery Community Fund awarded well over half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting over 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality.
Several local organisations have been fortunate to receive their support recently, including HADCA’s own Community Fit project. Our group meets weekly to run or walk to a local community project, charity or school to help out for an hour, perhaps painting, weeding or tidying, moving furniture, packing goody bags, anything where our enthusiastic volunteers can lend a hand to get things done. It’s a unique way to combine exercise, giving back to the local community and having fun! Previously part-funded by a Sport England grant, the project has received an ‘Awards for All’ grant this year. This funding comes at a time when there are more members than ever wanting to help and will enable the group to support two different community activities each week and to train more volunteer run leaders. For more information visit www.hadca.org.uk/CommunityFit or call 01423 504074.
Other ‘lottery winners’ locally include Artizan International who have been awarded funding to deliver a timetable of activities for disabled people ranging from social nights, weekend creative sessions and drama clubs to co-production groups, bread-making sessions and nights out on the town.
Girl Guiding North Yorkshire West have also secured significant investment to take the Birk Crag Centre to its next stage of development. County Commissioner Carly Halls told me: “Receiving this grant is the much-needed boost to bring this fantastic facility back into use. We are so excited to be able to move forwards with the build, it has been ongoing for over seven years and around £1.5 million has been raised by our members already. This funding will see the ground floor doors open and user groups back inside. The building will benefit the whole community and we can't wait to get back inside.” All are welcome to their Open Day at Birk Crag on Saturday 22nd March, from 10am - 2pm including an Easter Egg hunt.
The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. The funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.
So, if your numbers fail to come up for another week running, don’t forget the positive impact your ticket is having on the community around you.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
