Awards for All grant for Edinburgh Curling School
Community groups across Scotland are today celebrating a £448k cash boost, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.
No less than 67 groups are sharing in £448,567 from National Lottery Awards for All Scotland, which makes grants from £300 to £10,000 to voluntary and community groups across the country.
Scotland has a proud record of producing world class curlers like Rhona Martin, Eve Muirhead and David Murdoch. Now, thanks to an award of £1,906 to Edinburgh Curling School, based in Murrayfield, the next generation of young Scottish curlers will have the chance to hone their skills or take up the sport for the first time.
The group are working with local schools to offer a programme of sessions and the money means that they will be able to replace the old equipment they have been using up until now.
Paul Davies, Coach at Edinburgh Curling School, said, “Juniors are the lifeblood of any organisation. We are absolutely delighted to receive this award from the National Lottery which will help us welcome more young people to the sport of curling. Having the proper equipment as well as the new ice floor being installed this summer means we can continue to foster new relationships with our local schools and the wider community.
“We are so proud of two of our former junior curlers, Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds, who both represent Great Britain and compete at the very highest level. They both remain active as coaches and teammates here at Murrayfield and, thanks to this funding, we hope that they will continue to inspire more young people starting out at the beginning of their curling careers.”
Thanks to an award of £7,044, Doon Valley Amateur Boxing Club, based in Ayr, will be able to run a family fitness project to encourage local people to eat more healthily and exercise together.
Elaine Stewart, Treasurer, Doon Valley Amateur Boxing Club, said, “We are absolutely delighted with this funding from National Lottery Awards for All. This will help us implement our BE-FIT project for local families so they can work together as a unit towards a healthier lifestyle. We will support mums, dads, children and grandparents to develop and work towards a bespoke family plan involving fitness, exercise and healthy eating.
“The money will also go towards the refit of our toilet area to become a wet room with a separate shower and toilet area which will benefit our whole membership and will help us attract new people to the club.”
Based in Benderloch near Oban, local community group, Bookends, will use their award of £2,760 to organise a book festival which will take place in September this year. The award will help them put together an outreach programme to engage authors with local schools.
Joy Cameron, Chair, Bookends Festival, said, “This award makes a huge difference to our young but wonderfully diverse festival. Creating an event of this size in a rural area has brought more than books, authors and storytellers to the area but has helped to reduce social isolation and has brought about inter-generational mixing in ways that we never could have imagined.
“National Lottery Awards for All Scotland funding has made it possible to bring internationally renowned authors like Jess Smith or Lachlan Munro to support local writers. It also means that our new outreach programme will engage many children from aged three to 18 years old in our exciting celebration of the written and spoken word.”
A National Lottery Awards for All Scotland spokesperson said: “This is National Lottery money reaching into communities across Scotland making a real difference to the people who live there. Each of the 67 groups receiving a total of £448,567 today are fantastic examples of the range of projects that this small grants programme can fund.
“It’s also clear whether it’s bringing families to get fit together in Ayr, introducing young people in Edinburgh to the sport of curling or inspiring children in Oban with the power of the written word, that the smallest amounts of money can make a big difference.”
National Lottery Awards for All Scotland is now more straightforward to apply to and faster to get funding from. Applications are received on a rolling basis and can be received at any time. To find out what National Lottery Awards for All Scotland could do for your community visit our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/awardsforallscotland or phone 0300 123 7110.
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: #NationalLottery @BIGScotland
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland
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