5 August 1997

National Lottery Charities Board supports Small Charities and Community Groups in Wales

At the National Eisteddfod of Wales at Bala this year, exactly a year since the National Lottery Charities Board announced its first grant awards under the pilot Small grants scheme in Wales, Tom Jones, the Chairman of the Board’s Wales Committee will announce a further round of awards under the scheme.

The Small grants scheme was launched as a pilot scheme in Wales to support all kinds of community charities and groups, such as community centres, pre-school playgroups, OAP clubs, Scouts and Guides and other initiatives which improve the quality of community life. The pilot scheme proved so successful that it has now been extended to some other areas of the UK.

The latest round of grant awards will be announced on the morning of Tuesday, 5th August at the Activities Area of the Voluntary Action Pavilion on the Eisteddfod Field. Once again the grants announced reflect a wide range of activities and organisations that have received grants under this scheme bringing the total awarded so far to over £1 million.

Not far from the Eisteddfod area, the Committee of the Pensioners’ ‘Caban’ at Llan Ffestiniog received £4,205 towards maintaining the old slate quarrying tradition of the ‘Caban’. This particular ‘Caban’ provides social activities and meetings for the older people of the area, and the grant will make this modern ‘Caban’ much more comfortable and welcoming.

In Cardiff, the Bangladesh Welfare Association will receive £970 to carry out a feasibility study for a centre where they can access advice, information, education and learn new skills. This reflects the Board’s commitment to supporting and promoting the ethnic cultures of Wales.

A number of Welsh and English language playgroups have once again received support, especially in rural areas where such facilities are not as common as in the towns. One successful group is the St Winefrides Playgroup, Holywell, which is a rural playgroup of 90 children, some who are disabled and others from disadvantaged families, and which received £3,211 towards equipment and furniture.

A number of new initiatives have received support, including the Phoenix Community Furniture Scheme of Newtown, Powys. This group receives £2,617 to run a community furniture renovation scheme, to strip and renovate furniture which is then passed on to people in need in the community.

In Wrexham, the Chariotts group, which provides community transport for people who are ill or disabled, received £4,987 to move to new premises which are more central to the community. The grant will be used to launch seminars, train volunteers, purchase CCTV equipment for the visually impaired and contribute towards the costs of the new premises.

Announcing the grants, Tom Jones, the Chairman of the Wales Committee of the National Lottery Charities Board said, "The aim of these small grants is to enable these organisations and groups to make their scarce resources go a step further, and realise ambitions that appeared impossible. I am very pleased that another 100 small groups and organisations have benefited from this successful scheme in Wales, and that it has established a pattern for the pilot schemes in other parts of the UK. I am particularly pleased that the total amount of grants awarded to date has reached over £1 million."

In addition to the announcement Tom Jones made a presentation to Dolen Wales - a charity based in Anglesey and working in Lesotho. The charity was awarded £250,000 in May, the largest grant awarded to a charity from Wales under the International grants programme.