February brings a new name and over £3.2m grants for communities in Wales

The name may have changed, but it’s business as usual at The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales who this month distributed more than £3.2 million in grants shared by 37 organisations.

The brand refresh which saw the Big Lottery Fund change its name to The National Lottery Community Fund kicked-off The National Lottery’s 25th anniversary year. The first draw took place in November 1994 and since then, more than £30 million a week has been raised for a variety of good causes.

John Rose, Director Wales for The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “National Lottery funding for good causes changes lives. Last year alone, over £35 million of National Lottery funding went out to more than 1,000 community projects in Wales. The funding lets people bring their ideas to life, communities are thriving thanks to the National Lottery.”

Communities across Wales welcomed their share of the £3,285,785 in grants this month including:

Llyn Parc Mawr Community Woodland Group on the Isle of Anglesey successfully applied for just under quarter of a million pounds (£249,734), Mark Gahan, Chair said:

"Receiving this funding is a real tribute to the huge volunteer effort by the community over the past five years to improve the 50-acre community woodland within Newborough Nature Reserve, planting thousands of trees and holding lots of different activities and events. This funding will create three new jobs as well as exciting opportunities for learning and exploration through an outdoor classroom and bird hides. We want to thank the lottery players, without whom this project wouldn't have been possible."

The Bracken Trust Ltd in Llandrindod Wells, Powys successfully applied for just under half a million pounds to spend over the next five years (£499,964) Reg Cawthorne, Chairman described their project:

‘We will be developing wellbeing and community support services from hubs at Knighton and Llanidloes; a robust home support service and a telephone support system five days a week. We will also be developing a robust recruitment and retention strategy for volunteers; recruiting additional volunteers to help at the hubs and improving our information technology to make it more user friendly, interactive and bilingual. This is a very exciting time for The Trust and we are looking forward to implementing these services within the next few months.’

Solva Care in Pembrokeshire received £281,783, Mollie Roach, Chair commented
‘We are absolutely delighted that Solva and Solva Care has been recognised in this way. Our community wants to stay connected, helping each other and focussing on older people in particular. We have made a start and look forward to developing our ideas further using the grant. We will be supporting other communities who want to do the same.’

See a full list of the grants

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