[C]umbria’s community organisations are celebrating today after being awarded almost £605,000 in National Lottery funding. The money, raised by players for good causes, is being distributed by the Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. In total, 24 Cumbrian community projects are receiving a share.
Lamplugh Village Hall, based in West Cumbria is one of the projects involved – it will be receiving £403,839. The village hall, which is an integral part of local rural community life, will put the funding towards a larger project to develop a new community hub with improved facilities and activities to bring local people together, combat loneliness and improve wellbeing.
Bob Marshall, Treasurer of the Lamplugh Village Hall Committee said: “We will put this funding to great use in our project to construct a new hall and create a much needed safer car parking area. The new hall will include a main hall, small meeting room, kitchen, foyer and bar and in order to achieve this we are striving to raise additional funds which together with the National Lottery grant can make our idea a reality.
“Modern facilities in the proposed new hall will allow local people and groups to organise and enjoy a much wider range of leisure facilities, functions and events than is currently possible. This fantastic opportunity is thanks to income generated by National Lottery players.”
James Harcourt, England Grant Making Director at the Big Lottery Fund, said: “We are proud to be able to distribute National Lottery money to community projects like Lamplugh Village Hall that are making a real difference in Cumbria. When you hear about projects like this you realise the incredible impact the money generated by National Lottery players is having on communities across the region and England as a whole. It really is life changing.”
As part of today’s quarterly announcement, the Big Lottery Fund revealed that it is making grants totalling £50.3 million going to over 2,300 community organisations across England.
See the full list of projects HERE.
Last year it awarded almost £713 million and supported almost 14,000 projects across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes. The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes.