12 September 2000

Charities Board hits the fast lane

The National Lottery Charities Board in Wales is to speed up the way it processes and allocates Small grants, and in future successful applicants will have far quicker access to funds than in the past.

Roy Norris, Director of the Charities Board in Wales said: "We have known for some time that there has been a backlog of applications and that money is not reaching deserving causes at the speed it should. We have carried out a thorough review of the way we process and allocate Small grants and we are confident we have devised a quicker and more efficient system which should work to everyone's benefit".

In the latest round of Small grants in Wales announced by the Board today, 110 organisations share a total of £365,465. Children, young people, the elderly and groups catering for mentally and physically disabled people will benefit from the grants.

In Cardiff the Oldwell Court Tenants and Residents Association are awarded £3,500 to provide computer and internet access to older people living in sheltered accommodation, and in Conwy £2,000 is awarded to Conwy County Neighbourhood Watch Association. The money will be used to promote crime prevention in the area.

In order to improve their skills and help attract new members, Bedwas Knitting Club is awarded £1,678, and in Blaenau Gwent, £4,900 goes to Cwmcelyn Methodist Church to refurbish a piece of waste ground adjacent to the church.

In Flintshire, Caerwys Millennium Committee get £5,000 to provide a community sound system to include a deaf aid hearing loop system, and in Gwynedd £4,899 is awarded to the Lleyn and Eifionydd Beekepers' Society to help increase awareness of beekeeping and the role of bees in the environment.

Caldicot Community Website from Monmouthshire receive £4,991 to provide training for community groups, and Lliw Valley Womens Aid get £3,757 to provide furniture for a women's refuge.

The Phoenix Community Furniture Scheme based in Montgomeryshire get £3,500 to improve their recycling premises, and Age Concern West Glamorgan, based in Swansea are awarded £4,968 to create an information booklet for older people in the area.

A total of £4,965 is given to increase activities at the Cwmbran Centre for Young People, and in the Wrexham area £2,750 is allocated to provide publicity materials, training and IT equipment for the Gwersyllt Partnership.

Groups seeking application forms for Charities Board grants or further information should call 0845 727 3273.

Notes to Editors

1. For media enquiries or group contact numbers please call Brian on 01286 830438 or 07880 5580361
2. The National Lottery Charities Board is an independent body set up by Parliament to distribute funds to support charitable, benevolent and philanthropic organisations. There are 17 Board members, including the Chair. Decisions on grants are made by the members in grant-making committees for Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.
3. The Charities Board's two main grant programmes: Community involvement and Poverty and disadvantage as well as Small grants are awarded by the Wales Committee. Board Members in Wales are Elisabeth Watkins (Chairman), Tom Jones and Jeff Carroll. Co-opted Members to the Board are Margaret Dennis, Aled Siôn and Dr Glyn Williams.
4. The Board's main aim is to give grants to help meet the needs of those at greatest disadvantage in society and to improve the quality of life in the community.
5. Since October 1995, the National Lottery Charities Board, under the main grants, has awarded over £91 million to 969 groups in Wales. Over £5 million has been awarded to 1,865 groups under the Small grants scheme. This brings the total distributed in Wales, over five years, to in the region of £100 million.
6. Full lists of Charities Board's grants are published on the internet at www.nlcb.org.uk and full lists of all Lottery distributors grants are listed at www.lottery.culture.gov.uk.