Young children and arthritis sufferers are among those in the Ballymoney area benefitting from an Awards for All windfall from the Big Lottery Fund.
The Causeway Branch of Early Years and three other groups in the Ballymoney area were awarded grants totalling £30,809. 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.
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.
Arthritis Care Ballymoney provides activities and support for people living with arthritis in the Ballymoney area. They are using the £9,718 grant to provide a respite trip. Cloughmills Cultural & Historical Society provides a range of activities for younger and older people in the Cloughmills community. They are using the £1,803 grant to provide an educational trip to places of historic interest in North Down, including Castleward and the Tudor cinema in Comber.
Ballymoney United Football Social and Recreation Club are using the £10,000 grant to provide a weekend of cross-community cultural events for children and adults to promote volunteering and community spirit.
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.”
