Eight groups in the ITV Anglia region are today preparing to lock horns to win a share of £250,000 in Big Lottery Fund good cause money in The People’s Millions TV contest.

Five groups in the region will win awards of up to £50,000 each for their community project from The People’s Millions contest, soon to be showcased on ITV Anglia’s evening regional news.

This is the fifth year that the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and ITV have given the public the chance to vote on where the Lottery good cause cash goes in their region. Projects up for the vote will enhance local facilities, help people to enjoy their local area and enable local people to get more involved in their community.  

The TV contest will see two projects go head-to-head each night in the week of 23 to 27 November. The eight schemes will make their case for the public’s vote to win Lottery funding on ITV Anglia regional news programme with the winners being decided in a phone vote.

At the end of the week five projects will have won a slice of £250,000 of Lottery good cause cash. The best runner-up with the most phone votes will win a grant to be the final winner, announced on Friday 27 November.

This year across the UK £3.5 million will be awarded by the public through the People’s Millions. Over the last four years the programme has handed out £18.1 million to 318 good causes across the UK with more than 1.6 million people voting for their favourite project.

On Monday, 23 November, Waveney Mow and Grow Ltd’s Mow and Grow People's Project in Lowestoft, Suffolk, will be battling it out against ElmsWild’s Lukeswood project in Elmswell, Suffolk.

Mow and Grow is a unique gardening service, currently based in the most deprived areas of Norfolk and Suffolk. It provides a free gardening service for vulnerable people in the community whilst providing skills, accredited qualifications and work experience to those disadvantaged in the labour market. If successful in winning the People's Millions money the Mow and Grow People’s project will set up a new service covering eastern England, particularly rurally isolated areas.

But if the Lukeswood project is voted the winner, they will buy a plot of land within the village and create a community wild space. With the help of local volunteers the organisation will clear the area of rubbish and plant native trees, hedgerows and a traditional orchard. A disabled friendly footpath will be created to link with the village allotments and cemetery, and wildlife habitats will be improved. An outdoor learning area will also be designed and installed.

On Tuesday, 24 November, the Rowan Gate Primary School’s Modernisation of hydrotherapy pool project in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, will be competing against the Cottenham Community Centre’s Church to Community Coffee Shop project.

If successful in the People's Millions vote, the Modernisation of hydrotherapy pool project will provide better changing and showering facilities for the school's physiotherapy pool. Additionally, a ceiling mounted track hoist will also be installed to enable more disabled people to access the pool. These changes will enable a greater number of community members with physical and mental disabilities or injuries to use the facilities to aid their treatment.

However if the Church to Community Coffee Shop project secures the cash, they will re-furbish the community building to increase and improve services for the local community. Improvements will include the creation of a coffee shop, children's play area, fair-trade outlet and a display and information area for community activities. The centre will be redecorated and lit in keeping with the architecture of the church. Once complete, the centre will be able to run activities throughout the day and evening.

Wednesday, 25 November, sees the Young Concern Trust’s Youth Counselling & Support Centre project in Harlow, Essex, up against the Newtown Youth Club’s Newtown Youth Centre project in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

If the Youth Counselling & Support Centre project gets the majority vote, they will create a youth counselling and support centre to provide better care to young people living within the Harlow area. The charity will renovate a building that they have a 20 year lease for, to include the creation of training and therapy rooms, a second floor, offices, reception, kitchen and toilets including a disabled toilet.

But if the Newtown Youth Centre project comes out on top, they will create a temporary building near the existing youth centre so that they can run more activities and get more people from the local community involved. The new venue will provide a safe, secure and more readily accessible facility that can be used by existing user groups and members of the community. It will also allow easy access for those who are less able.

Finally on Thursday, 26 November, Talking With Hands’ Expanding Horizons for Deaf People project in Northampton will battle it out with Barton-Le-Clay Parish Council’s Luton Road Sports Field project in Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire.

Expanding Horizons for Deaf People will provide opportunities for deaf and hearing-impaired young people to benefit from cultural activities, which may otherwise be unavailable to them because of their disability. If they win the People's Millions grant, the group will be able to take beneficiaries on trips to theatrical performances, museums and sporting events in and around the Northamptonshire area with the full support of sign language interpreters.

But if the Luton Road Sports Field project secures the most votes, the large sports field is in for a facelift. The field is used by a variety of organisations but suffers from poor drainage, rendering large parts of it unusable during wet weather. Water-logging has also damaged parts of the field. With a People's Millions grant a reliable drainage system will be installed and the surface of the pitches will be improved to ensure the future durability of the facility providing improved sporting opportunities for the local community.

Telephone voting lines* will open at 9am on the day the projects are due to appear on ITV and winners will be announced the following day.

Sara Betsworth, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East of England, said: “Now in its fifth year, The People’s Millions contest promises to be as exciting as ever, giving groups the chance to win up to £50,000 in Lottery funding for projects that make a real difference to the local community. Voters in the ITV Anglia region will have some tough choices to make in deciding which of the excellent projects going head to head will get their support.”

John Cresswell, Chief Operating Officer, ITV plc said: "I am delighted that ITV is continuing its partnership with the Big Lottery Fund on the popular People’s Millions programme. Many local communities across the UK have benefited from millions of pounds in Lottery good cause cash and so much of this has been down to our local viewers supporting their local projects. This year we look forward to helping community groups share in a total of up to £3.5 million."

Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of Hours contact: 07867 500 572
ITV Press Contact: James Macleod on 020 7156 7236

Full details of Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• *Calls cost 10p per call from BT landlines. Calls from other networks may be higher and from mobiles will be considerably more
• 69 awards are up for grabs including one bonus award in each of the ITV regions. The number of awards available in each region are listed below.

ITV broadcast regions in the People’s Millions:

ITV Anglia (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Border (3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Central (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Granada (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV London (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Meridian (East of region 3 winners & I bonus award and West of region 3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Tyne Tees(3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Wales (4 winners & I bonus award)
ITV West (3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Westcountry (3 winners & I bonus award)
ITV Yorkshire (4 winners & I bonus award)
stv Central (4 winners & I bonus award)
stv North (4 winners & I bonus award)
UTV (4 winners & I bonus award)

• 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 by enhancing facilities, helping people to enjoy their local area and enable people to get more involved in their community.  
• This year BIG has created The People’s Millions website, designed to help groups taking part in the contest to campaign for support. Visit: www.peoplesmillions.org.uk (available from 28 October 2009)
• Telephone voting numbers – As with previous years, ITV and the Big Lottery Fund will use a low cost premium rate telephone number. ITV and Big do not make a profit from the voting telephone numbers.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is 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 £23 billion has now been raised and more than 317,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.