The National Lottery Awards

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[edit] The National Lottery Awards

The National Lottery Awards began in 2004 on the 10th anniversary of the National Lottery and are an annual event to provide recognition of the work of Lottery funded projects around the UK.

Certain projects are selected as the best in particular categories and there is a stage early on in the Awards process when nominations and entries are encouraged from charities, community and voluntary projects, as well as individuals.

The reason

The Awards aim to recognise and celebrate the people behind those projects, to be recognised across the UK. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £20 billion has been raised for good causes and more than 250,000 grants have been awarded, so the Awards also serve to show people how Lottery money is being spent . It’s also a good way of raising awareness of the nominated projects and helping to further their impact.

The process

A panel of judges considered the entries and chose the best ten projects from each of the seven categories. Following this initial judging session, a public vote then determined which of the selected projects maed it through to the public voting round. The top three in each category will go through to the final and face a further public vote to find the seven category winners.

Projects reaching the shortlist stage will be covered in local and national media. The Awards winners are then announced on a programme screened on BBC1. This programme is usually in the Autumn.

Changes for 2007

For 2007, there have been a couple of changes to the process of the Awards. The number of categories has increased to seven and a cash prize has been introduced of £2,000 which will be given to the project winners of each category.

Organisation

The Awards are operated by the National Lottery Promotions Unit of behalf of all stakeholders in the National Lottery – The Department for Culture Media and Sport, the Lottery Distribution bodies and the operator Camelot.

Stipulations

To be considered, individuals or projects must have already been awarded and allocated their Lottery funding. They must also be completed projects which can demonstrate tangible benefits for the public – the main beneficiaries of which must be based in the UK. However, projects that entered the Awards in a previous year but did not win are eligible to enter again.

Previous winners

UCAN Productions

UCAN Perform is a Cardiff-based creative arts project for visually impaired young people, started by former Hollyoaks actor Bernard Latham and his wife Jane. Children from five local schools were able to take part in a series of drama workshops made possible with the help of £4,800 from the Arts Council of Wales.

Stuart Liddell and the Inverary and District Pipe Band

The Inverary and District Pipe Band, the town's first pipe band in 70 years, is the brainchild of pipe player Stuart Liddell. Stuart received £7,000 from the Scottish Arts Council and Awards for All, enabling the group to buy instruments and other equipment which brought the local community together.

The Trans Pennine Trail

The Trans Pennine Trail is a recreational route linking Southport and Hornsea. The Trail opened in 2001, thanks to £6.4 million of National Lottery funding from the Millennium Commission. More than 700,000 people visit the 330km route each year.

The Food Chain

The Food Chain is a charity for people living with HIV/AIDS. They offer specialist meals, groceries and nutritional advice for men, women and children across London. The Food Chain received more than £125,000 from the Big Lottery Fund and now has almost 1,000 volunteers who devise the recipes and prepare and deliver the meals across the Capital.