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DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

92/99                                                12 APRIL 1999

 NEW #35 MILLION LOTTERY SCHEME FOR SMALL GROUPS OPENS FOR BUSINESS
 
          Culture Secretary says Awards for All will help 
                  more people celebrate year 2000
 
A new, simpler scheme to help small community groups across all 
regions of England get access to National Lottery money was launched 
today by Culture Secretary Chris Smith.
 
The Awards for All scheme, which opens for business today, brings 
together for the first time the Arts Council of England, the Heritage
Lottery Fund, the Millennium Commission, the National Lottery 
Charities Board, and Sport England.
 
In the first year of its operation (April 1999-April 2000) Awards for
All will fund small scale art, charitable, sporting, and heritage 
activities contributing to the nationwide Millennium Festival, making
#35 million available to help with community celebrations of the 
coming of the year 2000.
 
The grant programme is open for business with immediate effect, and 
is available to any not-for-profit group, with priority being given 
to organisations with an income of less than #15,000 per annum. In 
contrast to other well-known lottery large grant programmes, the new 
scheme will provide awards ranging in value between #500 and #5,000. 
Applicants will not be required to raise other 'matching' funds in 
order to qualify for help, and will usually be told if they have been
successful within 12 weeks.
 
Awards for All has been pioneered in Scotland and in the East 
Midlands, where it has proved extremely successful in ensuring that 
small good causes are able to benefit from National Lottery support. 
 
Announcing the new England-wide scheme Culture Secretary Chris Smith
said;
 
"The introduction of an England-wide Awards for All scheme shows that
the Government's reform of the lottery, aimed at ensuring that it 
provides something for everyone, is now taking effect. People across 
the country play the lottery, and everyone should have the 
opportunity to call on it for help, wherever they are, and however 
large or small the organisation or community group they belong to.
 
"In its first year of operation the new scheme will play a major part
in ensuring that people across the country will be able to take part 
in the Millennium Festival , marking the significance of the year 
2000 in their own communities.
 
"From today tens of thousands of voluntary groups and organisations 
across England will be able to get help for projects as diverse as 
improving local parks and organising children's trips to the seaside 
- making a real difference to many people's lives."
 
Anyone wanting information about obtaining an Awards for All grant 
should call 0845 600 2040 to obtain an application pack. Applications
for Millennium Festival projects will be taken between April 1999 and
April 2000.
 
Ends
 
Note to editors: 
 
1. Large Millennium Festival awards were announced on 22 February. 
 
                 Internet:http://www.culture.gov.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
# = pounds sterling



David Dawson
Museums New Technology Adviser, Museums and Galleries Commission
tel: 0171 233 4200, email: [log in to unmask]
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