Groups benefit from lottery cash
COMMUNITY organisations in the Stratford area have received a slice of £6.7million in National Lottery funding.
The money is being distributed by the Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. In total, 198 community projects in the region are receiving a share.
Projects set to receive money to support their work include an outdoor play park and fitness facilities including a skate park with shelter for the Ettington Youth Council Community Project, which will get £10,000.
The main part of the project will include a wheeled play or skate park for roller skates, scooters or skateboards with a youth shelter and fitness facility to come later.
Ettington parish councillor, Rich Smith, said: “The lottery money simply helps to boost what we’re able to achieve.”
The funds will be combined with other money the Youth Council hopes to get from the new Spitfire housing development, along with some help from the council.
Cllr Smith, who serves on the Youth Council, added: “We’re hoping to make it all part of a major overhaul of our current facilities. It’s all going to be in the green space at the Ettington Community Centre. The more people it brings in the more it brings the community together.”
Lottery funding of £9,468 was awarded to the Wilmcote Village Hall for the refurbishment of the toilet facilities making the hall more accessible and safe for people with different physical needs.
Another lottery grant of £5,350 was awarded to the Little Compton Village Hall to fund a new heating system for the village hall.
The Warwickshire Pride charity group also received a grant for £4,437, which will go towards funding its annual Pride festival. Some £87,144 went to the operation of a new rehab facility in Southam for ESH Works (Experience, Strength and Hope), a drug and alcohol rehab non-profit organisation.
The money will fund the first two years of operation for the new 11-bed facility, which will provide support for people across Warwickshire on a referral basis.
