News that the National Lottery has recently surpassed the landmark figure of £30 billion raised for Good Causes since its inception in 1994 has been warmly welcomed by Alex Cunningham, Stockton North’s Labour Member of Parliament.
And he has urged local organisations across the Tees Valley to make sure they bid for grants which can make a huge difference to their facilities and what they are trying to achieve.
The milestone represents a double-header of good news for the National Lottery, with over 400,000 grants now having been made to benefit projects across the length and breadth of the country. The projects vary hugely in size and scope, ranging from community halls and grass roots sport, through to various restoration and conservations schemes, all the way to such developments as the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the Baltic in Gateshead.
A total of 877 grants worth £55,882,833 have been made across the Stockton Borough, in areas as diverse as heritage, sport, arts and charitable expenditure. Recent grants have seen the Thorpe Thewles History Group receive over £5,000 through the Heritage Lottery Fund, while Arts Council England contributed over £45,000 to the highly successful Billingham International Folklore Festival.
Alex said:
“I was very pleased to learn of the milestones that the National Lottery has recently surpassed, and am delighted that important projects across the country continue to receive crucial funding in these hard times to achieve their goals. However, I was particularly pleased to learn that there have been 481 grants within my Stockton North constituency, bringing over £41 million to worthy causes.
“With an array of grants covering a wide range of projects and activities, investment in arts and culture across the region has been boosted tremendously, while funding from Sport England has featured prominently and will ensure that the 2012 Olympic legacy is able to be preserved throughout Stockton and the wider Tees Valley.
“It is important that the public are aware of how and where National Lottery funding is spent, and I hope that the enormous benefits that arise as a result of these investments, both locally and nationally, will continue to be fully appreciated.”
