BLF: £1.2 million helps put the life and soul back into England's communities

Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:00 AM

FOUR towns across the country are the first to benefit from the Big Lottery Fund's three-year Community Buildings programme, a £50 million bricks and mortar investment in village halls and community centres across England.

Aylesbury in the South East, Tewksbury in the South West, Hambleton in Yorkshire and Humber and Amber Valley in the East Midlands have all secured a slice of these first awards totalling £1.2 million, giving invaluable community hubs a new lease of life.

Located in the town centre, Aylesbury Methodist Church and Community Centre is used by around 16,000 people a year and already acts as the base for a wide variety of community groups and charities ranging from youth addiction support to over 60s exercise classes. A £325,000 grant through the Community Buildings programme has made up a third of the million pound plans for expanding and modernising the 1920s centre, enabling building work to get underway.

Peter Green, Church Spokesman and member of the project steering group, said: "Through these community rooms we aim to continue and expand as a community resource for everyone - young and old, of all faiths and no faith - providing a modern, suitable and attractive building for a wide range of uses."

A near £300,000 award to an ex-mining community in Somercotes, Derbyshire has put an end to a two and a half year wait for the Somerlea Park Community Centre. The centre will provide a range of much-needed facilities at the heart of this deprived ex-coalfield community including sports facilities, vocational and leisure courses, an internet cafe and space for voluntary and community groups to meet.

Cllr. Paul Smith, Chairman, and Gordon Blackmore, Secretary, of Somercotes Leisure Development Group were thrilled with the funding news: "This award from the Big Lottery Fund sends out a positive message to the people in Somercotes that they are not a forgotten community and by working together everyone can prosper from a new community centre, designed to meet local need.

Lottery thousands will also lay foundations for Gretton Village Hall in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire where a £250,000 grant will end a five-year wait for dramatic improvements to the community focal point. Using recycled materials where possible, the Gretton Village Association will build an extension creating two meeting rooms and an office where Women's Institute meetings, health and evening classes and luncheons will be held.

A £333,000 award to Worsall Village Hall, Hambleton, Yorkshire, will allow the locals to replace the current wood construction, which is beyond economic repair, with an environmentally friendly community hub. The new building will offer activities like badminton and soft tennis as well as a space for meetings, dances, conferences and weddings; and a theatre group and local historians are also waiting in the wings to make good use of the new facility.

Sanjay Dighe, Big Lottery Fund England Chair, said: "Community Buildings is a fantastic programme that aims to fund buildings which are a focus for neighbourhood activity.

"This is the first round of grants awarded through Community Buildings and these projects epitomise the programme, all promising to give a huge amount back to their local communities. It's a great start to the programme and many people up and down the country can look forward to the benefits of a Community Buildings grant in the coming months."

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030 Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• Community Buildings is dedicated to investing in buildings that give communities a chance to improve their quality of life and meet local needs, by offering a range of activities and services open to a broad range of people.
  
• £50 million will be distributed across England over three years with grants of £50,000 to £500,000 available.
  
• The programme opened for applications in June 2006. 200 applicants were invited to submit stage 2 applications and development funding was awarded to some projects.
  
• The programme is now closed for applications.

• The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
  
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was 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 £20 billion has now been raised and more than 280,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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