Ashfield missing out on £1 million of Lottery funding

People in Ashfield are being urged to apply for their share of National Lottery funding after it was revealed that the district is getting £1 million less than the national average.
Action from Ashfield Rugby Union Football Club, who received Lottery funding in 2015/16.Action from Ashfield Rugby Union Football Club, who received Lottery funding in 2015/16.
Action from Ashfield Rugby Union Football Club, who received Lottery funding in 2015/16.

‘It could be you’ used to be the Lottery’s advertising slogan. But it hardly applied to Ashfield during the 2015/16 round of funding, according to figures uncovered by Labour MP, Gloria De Piero.

The district was a Lottery loser, rather than a winner, receiving just £748,188 in grant awards during the financial year. This compares unfavourably to the average for Parliamentary constutuencies of £1.7 million.

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Now Ms De Piero is calling on Ashfield residents to get in their applications for a slice of Lottery cash to help get for their community, sports or arts projects off the ground.

“While it is great the the Ashfield and Eastwood areas have benefited from more than £700,000 of Lottery funding, I am sure there are other projects in the constituency that would qualify for some much-needed extra cash,” said the MP.

“I would encourage anybody who is involved in a group or project focusing on the arts, history, sport or community life to look into whether they could qualify for a grant from the Lottery.”

The money that schemes in Ashfield received included a total of £522,380 from the Big Lottery Fund and £225,808 from Sport England.

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However, the Eastwood home of literary legend DH Lawrence, which also falls within Ms De Piero’s constituency, received no money from either Arts Council England or the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Organisations that received Lottery funding during 2015/16 included Ashfield Rugby Union Football Club, where clubhouse and pitch developments were part of a major project, and Ashfield Play Forum, which received money for providing free accredited training, skills workshops and play days to local community and voluntary groups who work with children and young people.

Details of what qualifies for funding and how much you can apply for can be found on the websites of the funding bodies -– the Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Sport England, British Film Institute and Arts Council England.