East Dunbartonshire success in lottery funding

10.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 6th May 2009

Jo has welcomed the news that 6 groups in East Dunbartonshire have successfully secured a total of funding total of £35,628.

The National Lottery's small grants scheme 'Awards for All' annually awards grants of between £500 and £10,000 for people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, and projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.

New Kilpatrick Playgroup met the Awards for All aim of 'Helping groups to become better organised'. They will use their grant of £5000 to enhance all aspects of their service provision by purchasing new equipment and training for the play workers.

Two East Dunbartonshire primary schools received grants to improve their facilities. St Joseph's Primary School was awarded £9,628 to develop their playground environment to improve the physical activity levels of all pupils and groups from the local community. St Andrew's Primary School in Bearsden will provide a programme of extra-curricular sports activities to their pupils after being awarded £10 000 for meeting the 'Improving Quality of Life' criteria.

A number of cultural events for the whole community have also been secured through the funding. The Scottish Society for the History of Photography, based in Milngavie, will use their £3,000 grant to organise a conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Society and formation of the Scottish National Photographic collection at the National Galleries of Scotland. The Kirkintilloch Horticultural Society intends to purchase a number of folding tables with their award which will facilitate a range of annual exhibits and events in East Dunbartonshire.

Any budding musicians will be pleased to know that The Kirkintilloch Band are planning to use their grant to buy a variety of musical instruments to enable the delivery of free tuition to young people in the area.

Commenting, Jo said:

"Awards for All grants are of tremendous benefit to small organisations that are able to utilise relatively small amounts of money to great effect.

"I am thrilled that six local organisations in East Dunbartonshire have secured funding. Their work contributes so much to the local community - whether through the provision of music lessons or exciting sporting opportunities for our young people - and their continued success benefits us all'.

"Congratulations to all those involved in putting forward applications for these projects. It is great news that all their hard work has paid off."

Related Links:

Awards for All Scotland website

Local projects in more detail