Edinburgh and Lothians groups celebrate £79,415 of funding
As the National Lottery gets ready to celebrate its 25th Birthday later this month, 173 groups from across Scotland are today marking the occasion by sharing in £1.2 million of good cause funding.
One of them is LIFT based at Muirhouse Millennium Centre, who receive almost £9000 to support a drop-in employability service.
A spokesperson for LIFT said: “Huge thank you to National Lottery Awards for All. We are welcoming a new Employability Support Worker in December.
“We look forward to being able to continue our valuable employability work within LIFT and continuing to run our Employability Workshop, branching out into the future.”
Across Edinburgh and the Lothians, 28 local community, sport and arts groups are enjoying a share of £211,103 of National Lottery Awards for All grants.
Since the first National Lottery draw on 19 November 1994, over £3.1 billion has been invested into more than 64,000 good causes in Scotland, thanks to National Lottery players.
Amongst the groups adding to this total is the Edinburgh International Festival, which today receives an award of £6,000 to run a series of magical outreach workshops in December to six schools in Wester Hailes & Niddrie and Falkirk.
Welcoming the news, Ida Casilli, Festival Administrator, said: “Thanks to this generous support from National Lottery Awards for All we can run the second year of our ‘Magic School on the Road’ offering lessons to children who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to attend the Festival itself.
“These workshops are designed to give children a unique opportunity to learn and perform exciting magic and express their creativity, whilst improving presentation and communication skills, developing self-confidence and, of course, have fun learning.”
Also picking up a grant of £3,265 is The Forget Me Notes Project which will allow the group to continue running a dementia-friendly community choir in Edinburgh.
Paul Barfoot, Chief Executive, The Forget Me Notes Project, said: “Our project is all about using music to build community and, at the heart of what we do is The Forget Me Notes Choir, a dementia-friendly community choir that has around 30 members. As we sing together we stand with each other, we achieve together, and we find that true community is built.
“This vital funding will ensure that the choir can continue over the next year. It will also help us extend our links with the local area, sharing what we do with care homes, and will enable us to put on performances that both offer the members of the choir a sense of achievement and demonstrate to the wider community the positive impact that music can have for people living with dementia, their friends and families.”
Older people in West Lothian will be getting out and about to enjoy the fresh air and meet new friends as Queensferry Churches’ Care in the Community (QCCC) receives £6,800 to purchase a trishaw to take them out on cycling trips. Part of the Cycling Without Age movement, the project will tackle loneliness and isolation faced by 60 older people.
Carol Findlay, Fundraising and PR Coordinator, QCCC, said: “We are delighted with our National Lottery Awards for All grant which will help us to put in an order for our very own trishaw.
“This will have space for two passengers to feel the wind in their hair out on local adventures, whether to see one of the cruise liners or to have an ice cream at a local shop. We are all very excited to be having trips round Queensferry in style very soon.”
The National Lottery’s 25th birthday is a moment to celebrate the extraordinary impact The National Lottery has had on the UK, and to say thank you to National Lottery players for contributing around £30 million to good causes every week.
A National Lottery Awards for All spokesperson said: “Over the last 25 years, National Lottery players have raised an amazing £3.1 billion for 64,000 good causes in Scotland.
“Most of these awards have been for £10,000 or less so it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate this birthday milestone with a further 173 groups benefiting today through the small grants scheme, National Lottery Awards for All.
“It’s great to see Edinburgh and Lothians groups sharing in the celebrations with projects that will bring local people together to meet new friends, learn new skills and build confidence amongst people of all ages.”
National Lottery Awards for All Scotland awards grants of between £300 and £10,000 to local groups.
To find out how what it could do for your community visit our website https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/ or phone 0300 123 7110.
Discover the positive impact playing the National Lottery has had on your community over the past 25 years by visiting www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.
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