Big Lottery Backs 'Community Winners'

The Big Lottery Awards for All small grants programme is awarding funds totalling £554,391 to 69 groups across Northern Ireland.

The programme offers community, voluntary and statutory groups the chance to apply for small grants of between £500 and £10,000 that will have a big impact on local communities and the lives of people most in need.

Foyle Inclusive Swimmers, based in Derry City, has been awarded £2,405 to run swimming classes for young people with learning difficulties who want to take the activity further.

"We currently have about nine members but that number is growing as more young people come through the basic swimming class and want to take their swimming further," explained John Cregan, whose daughter Lisa is a keen member.

"This funding will go towards paying for the hire of the pool at the City of Derry Swimming Baths for our sessions.

"To date we have won 15 medals in Northern Ireland and All-Ireland competitions and with this money we're now setting our sights on UK titles," he said.

The Myasthenia Gravis Association, based at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, has also won an award.

It gained £9,843 for its work with people who have Myasthenia Gravis (MG), an auto immune condition causing muscle weakness and affecting certain muscles such as those that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, chewing, talking, and swallowing.

Jan Beaumont from the association explained that the funding will be used to run an awareness-raising programme to make the general public, medical profession and GPs more aware of the condition.

"This condition can be potentially fatal and can strike unexpectedly with people sometimes going into a state of crisis where they are unable to breath or swallow," said Jan.

Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, said: "The Big Lottery Fund's NI Awards for All programme funds projects that help people bring about positive change in their lives, improve health and well-being, develop skills and create safer communities.

"Groups across Northern Ireland can now apply for more funding from the programme. You can now apply for lottery cash of up to £20,000 in a 12-month period to organise projects, but a group can only hold one award of up to £10,000 for a project at any one time, and the organisation must have spent the grant before applying for more funding," he said.

(BMcC/GK)