People working to promote mental health and wellbeing in their community and young children are among the groups in the Ballycastle area benefitting from grants from Big Lottery Fund.
Solas Moyle, Causeway Branch of Early Years and Naíscoil An Chaistil were awarded grants totalling £26,459. They are among 92 groups across Northern Ireland who are sharing in a total grants windfall of £750,350 (See separate attachment for full list of awards).
Awards for All 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 communities and the lives of people most in need.
Solas Moyle is a community led mental health and wellbeing group in Ballycastle. They are using the £7,175 grant to create a community development plan and provide training to increase the skills and confidence of volunteers.
Causeway Branch of Early Years, a not-for-profit organisation, promotes early years education. They are using the £9,288 grant to train practitioners on the ‘Voice of a Child’ course to benefit children in the Causeway area.
Naíscoil An Chaistil is an Irish medium pre school in Ballycastle. They are using the £9,996 grant to provide an outdoor play area for pre-school age children.
Joanne McDowell, Big Lottery Fund NI Director, said: “The Big Lottery Fund’s NI Awards for All programme funds health, education, environment and community projects that help people bring about positive change in their lives, improve health and well-being, develop skills and create safer communities.
“The application process is simple and accessible and shall remain so, making it easy for applicants to successfully apply for small pots of funding that can have such a big impact on local communities and lives.”