This year we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the National Lottery. For Wales in particular, it’s a significant milestone -over one billion pounds has now been awarded to a wide variety of deserving projects across Wales since 1994.
This amazing achievement will be celebrated in a special event in the Senedd building on December 8 2009. The event is organised by the four distributing organisations in Wales – Arts Council of Wales, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sports Council for Wales.
Hosted by Janice Gregory, AM, and with a special address from Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones, we’ll be providing guests, AMs and MPs with information about projects and money awarded in their constituencies over the last 15 years.
We’ll be looking at how Lottery funding has made a lasting difference to the lives of people and communities across Wales, reaching every area of the country. We all live within a stone’s throw of a project that’s received a Lottery award.
The National Eisteddfod‘s Heralders will start the evening with a fanfare, dressed in full Gorsedd regalia restored as part of a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. And the renowned NoFit State Circus, also recipients of Lottery funding from Arts Council of Wales, will be demonstrating some impressive circus skills for guests.
A grant of £50,000 through the Big Lottery Fund’s People’s Millions competition in 2007 enabled the Aber Valley Communities Partnership to run the Aber Valley Water Play Feature project. The group has literally splashed the cash on replacing the existing redundant paddling pool facility at Senghenydd Welfare Park, with a fully automated, interactive water play system that is designed to stimulate children of all abilities, including those with disabilities.
In 2006, a former bakery in Griffithstown was given a full makeover, thanks to a lottery grant of £20,000 from the Sports Council for Wales. Owner Jo Draper will be at the Senedd to explain how the award has helped turn a bakery into Fighting Fit Gym which caters for the local community. Three years on, the project is booming, providing fitness options for the young and the old. And there are plans in the pipeline to develop a crèche on site to make it even easier for parents trying to find time for a workout.
Lee Davies from 3Gs Development Trust in Merthyr Tydfil will be in attendance to talk about their Heritage Lottery Fund supported project “Iron & Steal”. This award of £24,900 enabled young people from the Gurnos to investigate the industrial history of Merthyr Tydfil and turn their findings into a musical drama that has been captured on film and is being used as a learning resource.
Sherman Cymru’s Director, Chris Ricketts, will be on hand to talk about the Capital Lottery grant of £3.9 million this much loved Cardiff venue received from Arts Council of Wales this summer. This investment amounts to 74% of the total cost of the redevelopment which will see the public areas modernised, enhancing the audience’s experience, as well as refurbishing the backstage areas and improving conditions for staff and participants.
The Bracken Trust organisation will be present to discuss the £215,176 funding it received from the BIG Lottery Fund for two projects under the VCS and People and Places programme. The aim of the Bracken Trust is to support people with Cancer or other long-term illnesses and their families. Bracken Trust’s vision is of a holistic approach to Cancer, uniting orthodox medical care and complementary therapies with self-help techniques and generally making this illness less scary.
Anyone for tennis? St Fagans Lawn Tennis Club will also be at the Senedd explaining how they netted a cash injection from the National Lottery. The Sports Council for Wales awarded this thriving sports club a grant of £750. And showing that small-scale sums can make a big difference, it has allowed the club to develop a much needed outreach programme for young people in the Ely area of Cardiff.
Katie-Jo Luxton, Director of RSPB Cymru will be present to talk about their Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £699,000 that helped to purchase 251 hectares of Hen Hafod Farm and additional saltmarsh adjacent to their Ynys-hir Nature Reserve north of Aberystwyth. This has allowed better land management and improved public access to this stunning part of Wales as well as a programme of volunteer training and a series of interactive events for the public.
Galeri Arts Centre in Caernarfon‘s Artistic Director, Elen ap Robert, will be at the Senedd to show how the venue is now a thriving creative hub following a Capital Lottery Award of just under a million pounds from Arts Council of Wales in 2004. This award not only transformed the building itself but also enabled other creative businesses to flourish around it. Since then, other Lottery funded projects such as the award-winning Sbarc! initiative for young people have been a huge success for the hard-working venue.
Speaking on behalf of the four Lottery distributors, Ceri Doyle, Chair of Wales Lottery Forum, said:
“Wales has done very well since the first lottery balls were rolled out 15 years ago, with over one billion pounds awarded to more than 25,000 grants through the funding raised for good causes. From small community groups to big iconic landmarks, from arts, sports, heritage, health, education and environmental projects- lottery funding is making a difference to people and places across Wales, ensuring that it’s not just those with the winning ticket who are benefiting.”
She added: “We have come a long way in 15 years and the positive impact of lottery funding on Welsh communities is clear. But there is still much work to be done, groups to be targeted and communities to reach, to ensure everyone in Wales see the benefit of the lottery pound.”
Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones, AM, said:
“In the past 15 years, the National Lottery has had a big impact on the lives of people in Wales by helping many good causes across Wales. In that time, more than £1billion has been given to a wide range of projects and organisations and I’m pleased to see some of them joining us today to celebrate this milestone.”
