YOU have another chance today to decide which community groups will share in £25,000 worth of grants from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).
Ten projects have now been shortlisted for the chance of receiving up to £5,000 each through BIG’s Grab a Grant competition in partnership with the South Wales Argus.
Two of the projects are being featured every day this week along with information about all the others.
For a more in depth look at all ten and to read the competition rules visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk /grabagrant Once you’ve decided which one of the community projects is your favourite, please put a tick next to its name on the voting form below, cut it out and post it back using the Freepost address before the closing date on March 23.
Then the five projects receiving the most support will be awarded the National Lottery grants aimed at supporting small community groups in south east Wales. Winners will be announced at the end of the month.
All the groups will be appealing for your vote over the coming days so look out for their activities in your local area.
To find out what other funding is available from the Big Lottery Fund, which helps Welsh communities most in need, visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk Today we are featuring Urban Circle Productions, which would like £4,651, and Belle Vue Social Housing Club, which would like your vote for £2,500.
Boredom certainly won’t be an issue for young people in Newport if Urban Circle Productions can get their hands on the Grab a Grant cash.
An award of £4,651 would enable them to increase skills and creativity among young people in Newport by running the Youth Arts Development Focus Music and Dance project. The money would be spent on providing a year-long programme of activities for young people including street dancing, DJ and rapping, beat making and beat boxing.
Explaining why this money would be music to their ears, Ali Boksh of Urban Circle Productions, said: “We held consultations with young people from different areas of Newport who attend the youth centre and they explained that there were very few activities available to them except table tennis, pool and computer games.
They can’t afford other more interesting activities which means they often spend time just hanging around and were often accused of being a nuisance although they were not doing anything criminal.
“We asked the young people to nominate activities that they would like to undertake and these are the workshops they came up with. These would be run throughout the year as young people often comment that youth and community centres are closed during the holidays when they need them most.”
With summer on the horizon, many of us are starting to plan much-needed holidays or probably thinking about what to grow in our gardens or allotments.
If the Belle Vue Sheltered Housing Social Club in Cwmbran gets its hands on the Grab a Grant cash, it would spend £2,500 on providing a group of residents at its sheltered housing complex with a short break holiday to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project in May this year.
The group is planning to develop a gardening project in the grounds of the sheltered housing complex which will be open to other members of the community.
People over 55 years old live in the complex with some being disabled or having long-term illnesses.
Highlighting the need for the project, Richard Edwards, vice-chairman of Belle Vue Sheltered Housing Social Club, said: “A visit to the Eden Project would inspire the residents to grow their own food and provide valuable lessons about plants which can be used for fuel and medicine.
In turn, this will give them an understanding of gardening that will stimulate their health and wellbeing.
“There are also residents in their 70s and 80s who enjoy the company and who perhaps would otherwise be sat alone in their homes.”
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● Newport GREEN Hub wants £2,800 to establish a co-operative project to restore balance to the city through the exploration of ethical and environmental issues.
● Care and Repair Monmouthshire Limited wants £5,000 to set up a virtual book club, using telephone conferencing to help combat isolation and loneliness.
● St John Ambulance wants £4,871 to teach first aid skills to parents in Blackwood and Pontllanfraith so they can treat and save the lives of their children.
● St David’s Foundation Hospice Care wants £5,000 to improve the quality of life for patients with life threatening illnesses.
● Monmouthshire Brecon & Abergavenny Canals Trust Ltd wants £5,000 to modernise its community trip boat.
● South Gwent Children’s Foundation wants £5,000 to help children and young people with severe disabilities in Newport develop their communication skills through IT
● Parkinson’s UK support group in Newport is hoping for £3,704 to buy Nintendo Wiis and balance boards to help prevent falls and better manage Parkinson’s Disease symptoms.
● Monmouthshire Citizens Advice Bureau’s dilapidated base could get a new lease of life if it secures £4,661 through your vote.
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