More Lottery cash up for grabs as the People’s Millions 2010 opens in Wales

The Big Lottery Fund is giving away five bumper awards of £50,000 in Wales again this year as The People’s Millions TV contest returns to our screens to help Welsh communities improve their local areas.

2010 will see £250,000 awarded yet again to five community projects in the ITV Wales broadcast area 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 Wales and gives the public the chance to vote on which local projects should receive Lottery good-cause funding.

Shortlisted projects will be showcased on ITV Wales Tonight evening news programme 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 over £1.2 million in Wales to 23 worthy projects. A wide range of community projects have been funded including a brand new play park for the town of Dolgellau in North Wales, a project to provide media training for young people to increase their skills in Merthyr Tydfil and a project to provide opportunities for a dozen young people to work on a live construction site and gain skills in a building environment in South Wales.

Huw Vaughan Thomas, Big Lottery Fund Wales Chair, said: “The People’s Millions is a brilliant chance for local groups and organisations to get funding for a project that will really make a difference to their communities. People shouldn’t be daunted by the idea of taking part. Past experience shows that for many groups, The People’s Millions is the first time they’ve applied for lottery funding. And often those that think they’ve got little chance of winning are the ones that are successful.”

He added: “The key is that the competition puts the public in charge of the Lottery purse strings and, as experts on their communities, lets them decide what local projects should be funded.”

ITV Wales Tonight News presenter, Andrea Benfield, said: “The People’s Millions has been a tremendous success in Wales and has provided community groups and projects the chance to secure the funds they needed to help improve the areas where they live. The good work of projects across Wales has proved tobe life changing and we've got a quarter of a million pounds to give away in Wales again this year. So, if you're involved with a project that really transforms your local environment or makes your community a better place to live, then we want to hear from you.”

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 by visiting www.peoplesmillions.org.uk or by calling our hotline on 08450 10 11 12. 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

Big Lottery Fund Press Officer- Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of Hours contact: 07760 171 431
ITV Wales Press Contact: Sarah Drew on 08448 810 202

Full details of People’s Millions projects can be found at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/peoplesmillions

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
  

• 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.