Battle lines drawn to win People’s Millions vote in Northern Ireland
Eight groups across Northern Ireland are today preparing to lock horns to win a share of £250,000 of Big Lottery Fund good cause money in The People’s Millions TV contest.
Five groups will win awards of up to £50,000 each for their community project from The People’s Millions contest, to be showcased on UTV news tonight next month.
This is the fifth year that the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and UTV 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 UTV 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.
A range of community projects across Northern Ireland including Belfast, L’derry, Cookstown, Larne and Newcastle are hoping to win a grant of £50,000 to make major improvements to their local environment.
Since the launch of People’s Millions in 2005, more than £1 million has been awarded to 17 projects in Northern Ireland. Previous winners have been using their awards to make their local communities better places to live.
Breidge Gadd, the Big Lottery Fund’s NI Chair, 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 UTV will have some tough choices to make in deciding which of the excellent projects going head to head will get their support.”
Michael Wilson, Managing Director UTV Television said: "UTV and the Big Lottery Fund have established a strong working relationship and we are delighted once again to support The People's Millions. This will be our fifth year in partnership and we have helped give away grants totalling more than £1 million to local projects. That money has helped enhance the lives of many people in communities across Northern Ireland and this year we look forward to playing our part in awarding more grants which will total up to £250,000."
People’s Millions NI Projects
Broadcast date: Monday November 23rd
| Project Name | Location | Project Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Little Orchids, Sensory Garden/Children’s Play Area | Waterside, L’Derry | This project will improve the lives of young children with special needs by creating a sensory garden/children's play area, attached to Little Orchids centre, which is based in the Waterside in Londonderry. Little Orchids supports children with special needs and their families, with needs ranging from profound disability, sensory disability, language impairments, autism, Downs Syndrome and physical disability. |
| Holy Trinity P.T.A, Sensory/Nurturing Room Project | Cookstown | The project will transform an existing room into a sensory/nurturing facility within Holy Trinity Primary School in Cookstown. The room will be used by children with physical and learning difficulties and those experiencing emotional and behavioural problems to alleviate stress and will operate as a calming area to help children learn new and acceptable codes of behaviour. The project will help develop parent programmes and will be run by the Parent Teacher Association. |
Broadcast date: Tuesday November 24th
| Project Name | Location | Project Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Wave Trauma Centre, Garden of Hope | North Belfast | The project will develop a piece of outside ground, to create a 'Garden of Hope', at the centre in North Belfast. Each section will focus on varying needs including specifically designed seated areas, a youth section including a graffiti wall and ropes course, a children's play area, a vegetable and herb area, a quiet area for contemplation and an area that will contain a living memorial to all those who died in the Troubles. |
| Women’s Aid in Antrim, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey, The Safe Haven | Antrim | The project is to reinstate a piece of densely over-grown ground at the back of the applicant's newly acquired and refurbished premises in Antrim, which is currently unusable. This will provide a safe and secure outdoor social, relaxation and therapy area for women, children and young people from throughout the Antrim, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey areas who have been victims of domestic violence. The project will encourage children and young people to get involved in child centred activities, programmes, outdoor play, group work and one-to-one sessions with qualified staff. |
Broadcast date; Wednesday November 25th
| Project Name | Location | Project Summary |
|---|---|---|
| St Peter’s Primary School, Our School, Our Community, Our World | Plumbridge, Co Tyrone | The project - 'Skills for Life' - will turn half an acre site of wasteland into a variety of activity areas including gardening and horticultural area, play area and sensory area in the grounds of St. Peter's Primary School in Plumbridge, Co. Tyrone. The project will benefit the pupils of the school, including children with special needs, by providing a living facility, which will educate as well as promote social, emotional and mental health, helping pupils on the Autistic spectrum. It will also provide a focal point for the school encouraging a pride of place and the project will be open to the local community with older people being encouraged to use the garden in the evenings and at weekends. |
| BTCV, Growing Communities in Carrickfergus | Carrickfergus |
The project will develop a community fruit and vegetable growing project at Carrickfergus Community Allotments, including a demonstration garden and on-site horticultural training room, to encourage local people to grow their own food and build links to local communities, including cross-community working. The project will principally involve people from Northland, Sunnylands, Clipperstown and Love Lane and will also involve people with physical and mental health difficulties. The impacts will include improved community relations and reduced tension, increased knowledge about diet and healthy eating, increased skills and employability and reduced stress and improved mental health. |
Broadcast date: Thursday November 26th
| Project Name | Location | Project Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Hill Croft P.T.A, Enclosed Ball Arena | New Mossley, Newtownabbey | The project will create an enclosed playing surface at Hill Croft Special School in the New Mossley estate in Newtownabbey. The new playing surface or 'ball court' will benefit the 85 pupils at the school who all have severe learning disabilities. The aim of the project is to provide facilities to encourage free play and a safe and practical area for the pupils to play. |
| Autism Initiatives NI, Sensory Learning Initiative | Newcastle | The project will convert a grassy area at Mary Murray House, a daycare/residential facility based in Newcastle, into a sensory recreation area. The area will be used by the residents of Mary Murray House, pupils from the adjoining nursery and primary schools; other adults, young people and children with autism, learning and physical disabilities, living in and around the County Down area. The area will provide a place for beneficiaries to enhance their quality of life, stimulate their senses and provide a shared place of integration for people of all abilities to come together |
Further Information
Amanda Doherty Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 028 90551 472
Out of Hours contact: 07760 171 434
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)
| Key People’s Millions dates for forward planning diaries: |
|---|
| 23-27 November 2009: People's Millions competition televised on on UTV. |
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
- 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 £22 billion has now been raised and more than 300,500 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
Key facts
- Release Date:
- 0.01am 29 October 2009
- Areas:
- Northern Ireland
- Areas of interest:
- Charity, Community Groups, Education, Health, Regeneration, Sport, Voluntary, Youth
- Programmes:
- People's Millions