£845 Million Investment
Northern Ireland has undergone a massive programme of regeneration to the tune of over £845 million thanks to National Lottery funding for good causes.
That was the amazing headline at this evening’s reception to mark the 15th anniversary of Lottery funding, held at the Ulster Museum. Lottery distributors in Northern Ireland, Camelot and distinguished guests learnt about some of the other 15,000 different projects in Northern Ireland which have benefited from Lottery funding in those 15 years, transforming thousands of lives.
Seventeen year old Aińe Burns from New Lodge in Belfast represented a whole generation of those living in Northern Ireland who won’t recall the state of the
arts, sports, charitable, health, community, health, heritage and environment sectors, before the Lottery existed. A staggering 60% of Lottery funded projects
in Northern Ireland benefit young people.
At the tender age of six, Aińe took part in the afterschools club at STAR Neighbourhood Centre, a project her grandmother co-founded and where her
mother also became involved in the mother and toddlers group. Having progressed through the homework club Aińe is still involved with a young woman’s group, all of which are Lottery funded.
Speaking at the event, Aińe said, “I am now doing a peer education course with another Lottery funded group, “Challenge for Youth”, as I’d like to become a
youth worker. Without the Lottery-funded initiatives it’s hard to say where I’d be now – especially when I see the choices some young people make – and that’s frightening! Lottery funding really has changed my life.”
Lottery funding in Northern Ireland is distributed via the Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland. Paul Mullan, Chair of the Lottery Forum in Northern Ireland said, “On behalf of all the Lottery distributors I’d like to thank the projects, volunteers, community workers and staff who have ensured we’ve been able to fund good causes large and small,
in every town in Northern Ireland to benefit a very broad range of projects and sectors. Northern Ireland has also had its fair share of National Lottery winners,
led by a £20 million pound winner which remains in the top 10 wins of the past 15 years and I’d like to thank the Camelot team for their professionalism and commitment in establishing and operating one of the world’s most successful lotteries.
“In the last 15 years, new employment opportunities have been created; emerging economic sectors have been helped to flourish and facilities for visitors and
tourists have been enhanced. In many cases the quality of life of local residents
has been significantly improved and a new sense of local image and identity has often been created.”
BBC presenter William Crawley presided over the event, introducing Baroness May Blood MBE, Aideen McGinley OBE and comedian Tim McGarry to recount their personal experiences of Lottery funding.
Paul Mullan added, “Lottery funding has supported a wide range of programmes aimed at achieving social change and transforming the lives of whole communities
as well as groups of people with particular needs. Good Cause funding represents
an important investment in people which helps communities act for themselves, changes lifestyles, provides opportunities for personal development and builds
social capital. £23 billion has been funded to good causes across the UK and with approximately 28% of Lottery sales going to good causes and projects throughout Northern Ireland will continue to benefit.”
For further information please contact Joan Grenville on 07808 138525
Note to Editors:
- More than £63.5m has been awarded to over 770 projects in Northern Ireland that involved volunteers. More than 88% of grants awarded in the last year have created volunteering opportunities.
- Research on a sample of major capital investment projects completed in the past five years has found that these schemes doubled visit-related spend and created an average of 44 jobs in their regional economies.
- The Heritage Lottery fund has granted 1,060 awards totalling over £126 million to more than 970 projects in Northern Ireland. This represents 2.87% of total value of HLF grants in the UK.
- Every £1million of HLF funding in Northern Ireland attracts £863,400 from partner organisations, making a huge impact on conserving the heritage of Northern Ireland for the future.
- HLF’s biggest ever grant awarded in Northern Ireland was £4.7 million for “Opening up the Ulster Museum”
- Over 700 historic buildings and monuments in Northern Ireland have been given a new lease of life, and 19 town centres rejuvenated.
- Over the last 15 years the Arts Council has distributed £100 million of National Lottery funds to 2,500 arts projects.
- Thanks to National Lottery arts facilities there is now a dedicated arts facility within 20 miles of every person in Northern Ireland.
- National Lottery funding supports local artists working in schools, hospitals, health care settings and communities across Northern Ireland.
- With the support of the National Lottery, the Re-imaging Communities Programme has provided funding to 141 arts led community regeneration projects across Northern Ireland, tackling the visible signs of sectarianism and racism in our society.
- Over the last 15 years, Sport Northern Ireland has distributed £114m of Lottery funding to 2103 sports related projects.
- Lottery funding continues to help achieve the goal of increased participation in sport and physical activity which is strongly linked with local communities throughout Northern Ireland.
- This year Camelot reported the best sales figures for a decade (& over the past five years there has been an 11.6% increase)
- 70% of the adult population play National Lottery games.
45 MILLION INVESTMENT
£845 MILLION INVESTMENT
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