Grants boost for local groups from National Lottery’s Awards for All

Community groups in Lisburn and Glenavy are celebrating after being awarded National Lottery funding.

Lisburn Community Choir is amongst the 104 groups across Northern Ireland who are sharing £906,303 from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards for All programme.

The choir brings the community together to improve wellbeing through singing. They used a £7,400 grant to buy matching jackets and to rent a sound system so their members could be the first community choir to perform at an Ulster Rugby match in Kingspan Stadium. The project increased community spirit at the event and improved the confidence of members.

The Sarah Crothers Centre is using a £4,730 grant to repair the roof of their community venue to make their space more suitable for the work they do supporting local older people.

The Welcome Project, based in Lisburn, supports local BME communities. They are using a £9,700 grant to equip and furnish their new premises. This includes furniture, IT equipment, kitchen equipment, a television and a smart board to support their work.

Tonagh Neighbourhood Initiatives runs drop-in centres and organises community activities for local people. They are using grant of £7,010 to run activities to support parents and children, including homework assistance sessions, computer classes, and job finding advice and support.

Pound Bridge and District Community Association, based in the Lagan Valley area, is using a £10,000 grant to run a counselling training course, build an extension on their building and buy furniture to make the building more suitable.

Also receiving funding are Ulster New Zealand Trust, which maintains Ballance House in Glenavy.