The Barry Beavers Disabled Swimming Club needs your vote this week as it goes head to head with other Lottery-funded projects from across the UK in the semi-finals of The National Lottery Awards 2010.
The Barry Beavers are the only Welsh project in the Best Sports Project category of The National Lottery Awards, which are an annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects. All the projects in the running have already received Lottery funding and the Awards celebrate how they have put that money to good use. People in Barry are being urged to show their support by casting a vote to help the club make it through to the final stage.
The winning project in each of the seven categories will receive national recognition on a star-studded BBC 1 TV show later this year and, in addition to the Lottery funding they have already been awarded, will receive a £2,000 cash prize to spend on their project.
Based at Barry Leisure Centre, The Barry Beavers is a water awareness club and aims to ensure that all members are water-happy and given the opportunity to learn to swim. With the help of Lottery funding, the club has been able to take disabled swimmers to galas in wheelchair-compatible buses, all over Wales. The Club also used a Lottery grant to train special helpers and host its own swimming galas.
Eunice Lamb, Funding Secretary for the Barry Beavers Disabled Swimming Club, says: “We’re delighted our project has reached the semi-finals of The National Lottery Awards. Lottery funding has really kept our project afloat and given our swimmers so many more opportunities to get involved in different galas. Taking part in these events is important regardless of whether a swimmer does well or not – it’s just about gaining experience and enjoying themselves. We’re really hoping the local community gets behind us and votes for us in The National Lottery Awards as it would be great to get national recognition for our club.”
This year’s National Lottery Awards are supported by actress Fay Ripley, who attended last year’s Awards ceremony, which was broadcast on BBC1. She says: “Lottery players raise £25 million every week, which funds projects and organisations that are making a real difference to people and communities across Wales and the rest of the UK. The National Lottery Awards recognise the amazing talent and hard work of the people involved in running Lottery-funded projects, so please get behind your local project and vote to give them your support.”
About The National Lottery Awards
The National Lottery Awards recognise the difference that Lottery-funded projects – both big and small – make to local communities, and celebrate the achievements of the people behind them. The Awards have seven categories – each reflecting an area of Lottery funding: sport; heritage; arts; environment; education; health (in association with iVillage.co.uk) and voluntary/charity (in association with Woman magazine).
Voting for the semi-finals starts at 9am on Tuesday, June 1 and ends at midday on Friday, June 18. To cast a vote for the Barry Beavers Disabled Swimming Club call 0844 6865344 or log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards
The three projects in each category with the highest number of votes will go through to the final round of public voting in July.
