BLF: Online voting begins to decide people’s £50 million winner

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Monday, 26, Nov 2007 12:00

The biggest-ever Lottery grant decided by public vote gets underway today as online voting begins in the Big Lottery Fund's 'The People's £50 Million’ contest which is giving people across the UK the chance to decide which big project will be awarded a Lottery grant of up to £50 million.

The public are being given the opportunity to back their favourite of the four projects in the running: Black Country as Urban Park, The Edge at the Eden Project, Sherwood The Living Legend and Sustrans' Connect2, via the www.thepeoples50million.org.uk website.

To help people decide which project to give their vote to, the website also includes detailed information about the schemes, videos of their celebrity supporters, discussion forums and the latest news from the projects. Voting closes 12 noon, Monday 10th December 2007.

Sir Clive Booth, Chair of the BIG Lottery Fund said: “The People’s £50 Million Lottery contest is a truly ground-breaking initiative, giving everyone in the UK the opportunity to decide which of these highly deserving projects will receive the single biggest donation from BIG Lottery funding through pubic vote. It is thanks to the public’s support of the lottery that this kind of investment in good causes can happen – so we want everyone to vote for their favourite project!”

The contest for the BIG Lottery Fund’s £50 million funding will also be screened on ITV1 between 3 and 7 December. Each night one of the four projects will be screened at 11.00pm, following the evening news, with a round up programme on Friday 7th December, when voting telephone numbers will be announced. Voting lines will also close at 12 noon, Monday 10th December*(see notes to Editors).

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 12th December, when one project will walk away with the biggest-ever cash award of Lottery good cause money to be decided through a nation-wide vote.

THE CONTESTANTS:

Black Country Urban Park –

This project is a journey spanning 400 million years, including the rise and decline of the industrial revolution to today. The proposal plans to unlock access to the unique underground limestone caverns, the legacy of canals and open green spaces across the Black Country.

Below Dudley, in the West Midlands, is a vast network of hand-dug underground canals and quarries, which have been closed for hundreds of years. Proposals include opening up the forgotten tunnels and canals for future generations to experience and building an interpretation centre to explain the region’s unique geology.

Our canals and two major rivers form the most extensive urban waterway in the world. A number of schemes have been developed to enhance the historic canal network around Wolverhampton City Centre to meet the needs of locals.

The proposed Green Bridge Park will link communities and open spaces between the town centres of Walsall and West Bromwich. The spine of the park is a new 12-mile pedestrian, cycleway and bridleway link through the green belt of Walsall Arboretum and Sandwell Valley.

Eden Project: the Edge -

The Edge represents the next evolution of the Eden Project in Cornwall.

The new building will look back to understand how people coped with change in the past. It will look at the people and plants living on the edge today and the ingenious solutions they have come up with. And it will look forward to explore how we can engage with the great environmental issues of the age.

The Edge will feature the largest oasis in captivity, the perfect symbol of how life depends on energy and water, and how life supports life. The scale and setting of The Edge within a yet-to-be reclaimed part of the former china clay quarry at Bodelva in Cornwall will be a new icon of regeneration.

Education is at the heart of Eden. The Edge will provide more creative space for communities and families and a greater chance for others to take the stage and show us what ideas they have for a positive future.

Sherwood: The Living Legend -

Sherwood: the Living Legend will expand the ancient oak forest; provide environmentally friendly visitor facilities; create one of the biggest walking, cycling and horse riding networks in Europe; and help local communities celebrate their connections to Sherwood’s nature, history and legends.

Most importantly, our project will protect the fragile ecology of one of the world’s most famous forests so it can be enjoyed by future generations.

We will build a new visitor complex on farmland next to the ancient forest. Our iconic 100ft tall tree will stand proud on the edge of Sherwood. The new visitor complex, inspired by the great Sherwood Oaks, will be built using cutting-edge, sustainable technology and be linked to the ancient forest by a raised walkway.

A 250-kilometre network of walking, horse riding and cycling routes and crossings will enable greater access to Sherwood. It will connect to the national cycle network and 20 railway stations, as well as local towns, villages and visitor attractions.

We will recreate 300 hectares, or 400 football pitches, of new forest to stitch the fragmented forest back together, restoring the beauty of the landscape and precious wildlife habitat.

Sustrans – Connect2 -

Connect2 comprises 79 practical projects, from walking and cycling bridges to tunnels and ferries, all designed to overcome obstacles like busy roads and rivers to make journeys easier and reunite communities.

Nearly 5 million people live within a mile of the 79 Connect2 projects. The initiative aims to change the lives of people of all ages across the UK - cyclists, commuters, schoolchildren, the elderly, leisure walkers, and wheelchair users – by offering improved and sustainable transport links.

Connect2 will improve local travel around the UK in ways that will benefit people’s health and the environment for generations to come. The projects cover cities, towns and villages, countryside and coastline.

Voting arrangements:

• The following arrangements for voting have been agreed by Big Lottery Fund and ITV with guidance from Electoral Reform Services.

• Only one vote per recognised telephone number or email address will be allowed.

• Internet voting will open on 26 November at 9.00 am at www.thepeoples50million.org.uk and close at 12.00 noon on Monday 10 December.

• Internet voting will allow a registered user to change their vote at any point between 9.00 a.m. on 26 November 2007 and 12.00 noon on Monday 10 December. The preference at close of voting will be counted as their vote.

• Telephone voting will open at 9.00 am on Friday 7 December and close at 12.00 noon on Monday 10 December.

• Calls will be charged at the standard national rate call charge for a BT landline, which will cost less than 10p if calling from a BT line. Calls from other providers and from mobiles will vary, and could be higher. Callers are advised to check with their provider to be certain of the cost.

• No profit will be made from the phone in by either ITV or Big Lottery Fund.

Guidance:

• As voting will allow 1 vote per recognised telephone number, some phone systems using switchboards will only be able to vote once.

• Systems are in place to monitor and carry out checks for voting from ‘number withheld’ phone lines.

• Systems are in place to monitor and carry out checks where multiple email votes are received from a single IP address.

• Voting from numbers outside the UK will not be permitted.

• Electoral Reform Services will be reviewing data throughout the voting period. Their role is to provide advice and certify the final result.

Notes to Editors

• 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.