Groups from across Scotland are sharing in a bumper package of National Lottery grants totalling £952,883 this morning.
Across the country, 136 community groups have picked up awards from National Lottery Awards for All – a quick and simple way to access small National Lottery grants of between £300 and £10,000.
The Edinburgh Tool Library (above) is one of six Edinburgh projects to share in the Lottery cash. The Tool Library receives £10,000 to expand their Fork in the Road food delivery project in Granton, Wester Hailes and Craigmillar.
The project is focused on addressing the issues of food waste and it’s impact on climate change, and will deliver a range of workshops, events and community meals.
The other successful Edinburgh applicants are Libertus Services (£9990) to deliver art therapy in South East Edinburgh; Lothian Disability Sport (£7000); PBC Foundation (£5988); SportScotland’s Scottish Touch Association (£7000) to widen access to touch rugby for girls, and Smart Works Edinburgh, who receive £10,000 to ‘reach out to vulnerable women and help them get back into employment through their dressing and coaching service’.
From their base in Inverness, Morning Call has been providing a free daily telephone call service to isolated and lonely elderly people across the Highlands for over 30 years.
Since then the group, run entirely by volunteers, has added regular home visits and a Housebound Library Service to the range of support they offer. After an award of £10,000, the charity will be able to employ their first paid member of staff to help co-ordinate services and meet demand.
Alan Michael, Founder, Morning Call, said, “On behalf of all the directors and volunteers of Morning Call I would like to express our extreme gratitude to National Lottery players.
“This award will totally transform this organisation from being a volunteer run one to being able to employ a paid co-ordinator who will replace the volunteer co-ordinator who has done the role for the last 31 years.
“We will now be able to increase and raise awareness of the benefits of the service which helps to connect isolated, elderly people with the outside world. Thank you very much indeed from everyone involved.”
Screen Memories, based in Falkirk, will use an award of £10,000 to expand their programme of structured reminiscence sessions for older people experiencing memory loss.
Over the past two years the group has run more than 100 sessions in hospital wards, day centres and care homes across Scotland.
Michael White, Founder and Trustee, Screen Memories, said, “We are delighted to receive this funding from National Lottery Awards for All. Our project is all about helping to re-connect people with the memories and feelings associated with their love of cinema.
“Using a combination of stills, posters, memorabilia and trailers we create a fun and stimulating environment for people, including family members and carers, to come together and talk about their favourite films and actors.
“This award means we can extend the range of resources available to the groups and develop training programmes for our volunteers, which will help us extend the geographical reach of the project.”
An award of £10,000 means that Parkinson’s Shetland will run a series of specialised exercise classes and a support café for people with Parkinson’s and their carers for the next 12 months.
George Hobbin, Chairperson, Parkinson’s Shetland said, “Until our group was set up at the start of this year there was no support available for people with Parkinson’s on Shetland.
“As well as continuing our services for the next year we will advertise in the local press and GP surgeries to let more people know we are here to help them.”
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 136 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.”
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 https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/ or phone 0300 123 7110.
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