28 July 1998

East Midlands leads the way for Lottery Awards for All

Following the announcement by Chris Smith, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, at the Lottery Monitor conference on 15 July, a simplified grants programme called Awards for all is being launched, which will give small organisations the chance to get grants from the Lottery fund. The scheme, already up and running in Scotland, will start in the East Midlands in November.

The Charities Board is one of four Lottery fund distribution bodies involved in this joint programme. The others are: the Arts Council, the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Sports Council. It is a joint scheme with a single application form and a three month turnaround. Awards range from £500 to £5000, and local groups wanting funds for charitable, arts, sports or heritage projects, can apply.

Carol Townend, currently Regional Manager for the Charities Board in the East Midlands, has been appointed Awards for all Project Manager. Carol will prepare the first phase of the programme this year, with a view to rolling out the scheme across the rest of England in April 1999.

Carol Townend says, "I am very pleased to have been appointed to lead this exciting new development in the distribution of Lottery funds. We hope to make our first awards early in the New Year and I am particularly pleased that those awards will be in the East Midlands."

Janet Paraskeva, Director for England for the Charities Board, added, "I am really pleased that the Charities Board has been able to play a part in bringing together the Lottery Distribution Bodies across England to launch a simple and straight- forward route for small organisations to get their hands on lottery cash."

Chris Smith said, "I congratulate the Lottery distributory bodies on the extension of their Awards for all scheme to the East Midlands. Many small charities and community groups in Scotland have already benefited from this fast-track system and many more will now be able to obtain Lottery funding simply and effectively. The scheme will bring the benefits of the Lottery closer to neighbourhood level."

Media enquiries: Robert Blow, Press Officer, on 0171-747 5227