Local MP and MS welcome National Lottery community grants for Blaenau Gwent

13th November, 2020

Nick Smith MP and Alun Davies MS welcomed a new grant programme aimed at Blaenau Gwent by The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales today. The scheme encourages people who haven’t had a grant before to apply for up to £300 to do something to help their community within the area. Grants are made possible thanks to National Lottery players.

Nick Smith, MP for Blaenau Gwent welcomed the new programme saying: “The National Lottery supports important causes in Blaenau Gwent and across the whole country, I would encourage anyone who has an idea which could help our community to put in an application for this fund.”

Alun Davies, MS for Blaenau Gwent is encouraging the people of Blaenau Gwent to consider applying for the new programme: “At times like these, the incredible work done by The National Lottery to support local charities and organisations is more important than ever, so I warmly welcome that The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales are launching this pilot scheme to specifically support the ideas and initiatives that will help Blaenau Gwent.
“If you haven’t applied for funding from The National Lottery before, but do have proposals that you think will help Blaenau Gwent, I would strongly encourage you to apply.”

Open until mid-March 2021, the application process is intended to be very straightforward and anyone interested is invited to call the Funding Officers for a chat on 01495 654010 or send in an email to microgrants@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

If they prefer, community groups can continue to access other sources of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, including grants of up to £10,000 from its National Lottery Awards for All scheme and up to £500,000 from its People and Places grant scheme.

Huw Lewis works with communities in Blaenau Gwent on behalf of GAVO – Gwent Association of Volunteer Organisations and added: “This is a real opportunity for people in Blaenau Gwent to put into action ideas they might have been thinking about for a while, The National Lottery Community Fund are offering grants especially for our area and I hope as many people as possible will get in touch with them for a chat.
“We are working closely with The National Lottery Community Fund to make sure we get the word out as widely as possible and make this scheme successful for Blaenau Gwent.”

Jemma Nurse, Funding Manager at The National Lottery Community Fund added:

“We’re sure there are lots of fantastic ideas in Blaenau Gwent to help communities and we’d love the opportunity to support them.
“We want to reach people who wouldn’t necessarily think to apply to us for a grant. National Lottery players raise £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK and our money is available for everyone. We want to encourage people who have never had a grant from us before to get in touch. Our Funding Officers are very friendly and helpful and looking forward to chatting.

The National Lottery Community Fund receives less applications from some areas than others and they are hoping that the new scheme will encourage more people to apply from Blaenau Gwent.
If it is successful, the scheme will be rolled out in other parts of Wales.

The National Lottery Community Fund are running two online sessions to let people find out more, anyone interested can join on Tuesday 17 November, details on the website www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/blaenau-gwent-grant-programme