Lottery Helps Celebrate South West Wartimes History In Style
12.02.2008 23:42:00
A WWII re-enactment event and a town’s 125th birthday celebration are among the projects benefiting from grants distributed by the Lottery’s Awards for All programme. A total of £450,211 is being distributed to 64 groups across the South West in the latest round of awards, announced today.
Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Lottery good cause funders, Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. The scheme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to grass roots community groups and voluntary organisations.
Mark Cotton, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the South West, said on behalf of the Awards for All funders: “This year has got off to a great start for community groups with over £450,000 in grants being distributed by Awards for All. We are proud to be able to help groups keep up their wonderful work in bringing communities together through educational, sports and social projects.”
A three-day event marking the role of the Kennet Valley and Salisbury Plain area in WWII is to take place in May with the help of a lottery grant of £9,985. Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, the Allied Force’s route to victory will be commemorated by the Kennet Valley Area of the Military Vehicle Trust to mark its 40th anniversary.
A WWII historic convoy and reenactment event will observe the part the area played in Operation Market Garden and D-Day. Based in Ramsbury, the event will have two themed historic vehicle convoy days, US Airborne Day and British Airborne and 30 Corps Day, culminating in a public day on Bank Holiday Monday.
The Westham Community Oriented Problem Solving (COPS) group is creating an arresting sight to mark the 125th anniversary of the town after receiving £5,400. The event will feature a summer fete, community play, and performances by local bands to mark the 125th anniversary of the town. There will also be an excavation dig in the ‘Time Team’ style on a WWI site, and a beauty pageant. The event is being held to encourage a sense of pride in the town.
The Bristol Tbilisi Association is marking 20 years of twinning success with the Georgian capital in a year of celebrations after receiving a £10,000 lottery grant. The activities are aimed at helping residents learn more about Georgian culture through Georgian music and dance performances, workshops, and a photography exhibition.
Other groups to benefit from this round of awards include £10,000 to Dance Links Cornwall to set up community dance groups throughout the local area, £9,600 to Colebrook Housing Society Limited to hold two city-wide events during National Carer Week and Carers Rights Day, and £3,480 to The Totnes Band to provide musical instruments for young people to learn and offer a programme of training and group performances.
ENDS
Client name: The Big Lottery Fund
Web link: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/
