Local groups looking forward to big lottery wins
5th April 2012
Local community and voluntary groups look set to bid for a share of the £40million that the Big Lottery Fund allocates to projects in the West Midlands every year.
Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP James Morris and the Big Lottery Fund held a Funding Day at the Hope Centre in Halesowen for groups to learn about what funding is available and how local organisations could improve their chances of being successful.
The event attracted a wide range of local community groups, including Halesowen Abbey Trust, Rowley Explorer Scouts, Cradley Royal British Legion and the Shell Corner Partnership.
They learnt about the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme, which gives grants of up to £10,000 for projects that improve communities, as well as Reaching Communities, which offers up to £500,000 for big projects and larger scale programmes.
Speaking after the event, James Morris said:
“I was delighted when Big Lottery Fund agreed to come to Halesowen to meet with some of the fantastic local community groups we have in the constituency, who do so much to contribute to the quality of life in our community. Big Lottery Fund hands out a huge amount of money in the West Midlands and I want local organisations to get as much of it as possible.
“Talking to the people who attended, they all seem incredibly well-motivated to go back and put in their bids and I look forward to seeing lots of them being successful in getting lottery money.”
Peter Willis from 1st Rowley Regis Scout Group spoke of what he had gained from the event:
“We got a great idea of how to get the funding we need to be able to build a new Scout building to help young people in our district.
“We are working with a lot of the kids from the Brickhouse area and it is good to get them off the street, doing activities with us.”
John Taylor, Head of Big Lottery Fund West Midlands said:
“We’re in the privileged position of having millions of pounds to allocate to good causes in the West Midlands and we want to spread that right across Halesowen and Rowley Regis.
“We hope that today has helped organisations to have a better understanding of the options available to them and how they can make sure that their applications are more likely to succeed.”
Any organisations who would like a copy of the information pack from the event should contact James Morris’ office on 0121 550 6777 or email james.morris.mp@parliament.uk
