People’s Lottery millions up for grabs for Scotland’s communities
Fifteen bumper Big Lottery Fund awards are on offer to help communities across Scotland improve their local area as The People’s Millions TV contest 2010 opens its doors for another year.
This year £750,000 is to be awarded to fifteen community projects to improve facilities or help communities get more enjoyment from their local area.
The People’s Millions, a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and ITV, aims to improve communities across the UK and gives the public the chance to vote on which local projects should receive lottery good-cause funding.
Shortlisted projects will be showcased on local STV and ITV evening news programmes where they will have to convince the public why they need the cash. It will then be up to the public to vote for groups to win the funding.
Now in its sixth year, the contest has awarded £3,682,784 to 65 communities across Scotland funding a wide range of community projects from the illumination of a Victorian Railway viaduct in Airdrie to the creation of the first all weather outdoor pitch for the children on Islay.
Dharmendra Kanani, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, said: “Now in its sixth year, the People's Millions is a fantastic opportunity forcommunities across Scotland to get some well earned publicity for the fantastic work that they are doing. It’s also a chance for Lottery players to have a direct say in where their Lottery pound is spent. If you are a group that has an idea for breathing new life into your environment then the People’s Millions is for you. In previous years groups have created new woodland footpaths opening
up the countryside to the wider community, cleaned up local eyesores for children to play in and put in place some recreational facilities in place for people of all ages to enjoy.”
This year a new streamlined online entry form will mean that applying to the contest will be even simpler. Entry forms are available from 10 March at www.peoplesmillions.org.uk and the deadline is 12 noon on Friday 14 May.
Watch Peter Wanless on the GMTV sofa to launch The People’s Millions 2010.
Further Information
For more information please call: Lorna McNiven, Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1451
Out of Hours contact: 07785 774 581
Full details of Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- 75 awards are up for grabs across the UK – four awards and one bonus award in each of the 15 ITV regions
ITV Anglia, ITV Border, ITV Central, ITV Granada, ITV London, ITV Meridian (East of the region), ITV Meridian (West of the region), ITV Tyne Tees, ITV West, ITV Westcountry, ITV Yorkshire, stv Central, stv North, UTV
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- Since the launch of People’s Millions in 2005, the aim of the contest has been to fund projects that improve the quality of life of local communities through transforming the local environment.
- New and existing voluntary or community organisations, schools, local authorities and health bodies are all eligible to apply.
- Telephone voting numbers – As with previous years, ITV and the Big Lottery Fund will use a low cost telephone number. ITV and Big do not make a profit from the voting telephone numbers.
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
- BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £24 billion has now been raised and more than 317,500 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
Key facts
- Release Date:
- 0.03am 10 March 2010
- Areas:
- Scotland
- Areas of interest:
- Charity, Community Groups, Voluntary, Youth
- Programmes:
- People's Millions