Celebrities support Welsh domestic abuse charity as clock ticks down to end of public voting
The clock is ticking down to noon on Friday 13th, when public voting ends in the finals of The National Lottery Awards 2010.
Blaenau Gwent Domestic Abuse Services are the only Welsh project in the finals of The National Lottery Awards 2010, and they want you to vote now to help them win a National Lottery Award.
Actor Michael Sheen, new One Show presenter Alex Jones, Wales International and Ospreys hooker Huw Bennett, Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and former Wales international footballer John Hartson have all tweeted their support for the project on Twitter, while the Gwent Dragons and politicians including Assembly Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant have pledged their support.
The project is competing in the Best Voluntary/Charity Project category in the Awards, which are the annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects. Blaenau Gwent Domestic Abuse Services has to beat just two other finalists to win the title of the UK’s Best Voluntary/Charity Project (in association with Woman magazine). All the projects in the running have already received Lottery funding, and the Awards celebrate how they have put that money to good use.
BGDAS run programmes for adults and children, providing support and information to anyone in the area affected by domestic abuse. Lottery funding has enabled the project to employ more staff to support people.
Last week Blaenau Gwent Domestic Abuse Services had people queuing outside their Eisteddfod stand in the rain to vote for them to win, gaining around 2,000 votes across the week.
Project Manager Cath James said: “The response we had was tremendous, from people from all walks of life and from Wales and beyond. It was a real boost to our volunteers who work so hard.”
BGDAS and their supporters are out and about working for every vote until voting closes at noon on Friday.
Voting is quick and easy – just click on www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards or call 0844 686 52561. Voting ends at midday on 13 August.
Cath James added: “It takes seconds to vote for us, so please encourage all your family and friends to give us their vote to help us win this award.”
A film of the project will be shown as part of the BBC One star-studded Awards event, to be broadcast in September, where the winners of each category will be announced live.
Calls cost 5p from a BT landline. Calls from other networks may vary, calls from mobiles could cost considerably more. No profit will be made from the cost of the phone vote by the National Lottery Promotions Unit or The National Lottery
