Lottery Monitor Awards for Excellence 2003
Revealing the most successful Lottery funded projects to date

WINNERS

• PUBLIC SPACE – WINNER Gateshead Millennium Bridge
  

• SMALL AWARDS - WINNER Ethnic Minorities History Project,  
  

• INNOVATION – WINNER LAMPOST ICT, Walsall 
  

• KIDS – WINNER Aware Defeat Depression, County Londonderry  
   

• LOCAL AUTHORITY – WINNER Lincoln City Council
  

BACKGROUND

Although the National Lottery has awarded over 100,000 grants up to a total of £12.2bn - 70% of people cannot name a single locally funded lottery project.

This year Lottery Monitor launched its first Lottery Awards for Excellence, established in order to recognize and draw attention to the remarkable achievements of lottery-funded projects and those that helped make them happen since the inception of the National Lottery in 1994. 

Whilst there has been ample coverage in the press of fiascos and failures, there is very little awareness of the successes, even though they have benefited millions of citizens in communities up and down the country. These awards were an opportunity to celebrate some of the most successful lottery projects to date.

We invited nominations from those working in all areas of the Lottery community for projects in the following categories: ‘Kids’; ‘Public Space’; ‘Small Awards’; ‘Innovation’ and for the ‘Best Local Authority for lottery success 2000-2002’.

All nominated projects and authorities were invited to send in an application giving further details about how they were organised and what their particular successes were. We received applications from projects of all sizes, across the UK and finally chose a shortlist of those projects which really used the money they received from the Lottery to create something brilliant, projects we think have given value for money and a real benefit to those in the community and also two Local Authorities which stood out in their work with the National Lottery. 

JUDGES

• Stephen Bubb (Chief Executive of A.C.E.V.O)

• Anthea Case (ex Director of the Heritage Lottery Fund)

• Michael Norton (Founder of ‘Directory of Social Change’) 

• Maureen Salmon (Director of the Black MBA Network).

• Polly Toynbee (Columnist, The Guardian)

RESULTS – SHORTLISTED PROJECTS FOR EACH CATEGORY

PUBLIC SPACE

• Cathedral Church of St. Philip, Birmingham – Restoring the former churchyard to provide a welcoming, interesting, quality, public green space in the heart of the city centre.
  

• Gateshead Millennium Bridge – Providing a quayside link across the river Tyne as the first step in the arts and leisure rebirth of an area suffering after years of industrial decline.
  

• The Lowry, Manchester  – Providing international, quality arts and entertainment, creating an architectural landmark and acting as a catalyst for major regeneration around the docks.
  

• Wincanton Community Sports Centre – Working in partnership to increase and improve the quality of sporting opportunities for children, local people and sports organisations in the surrounding area.

SMALL AWARDS

• Ethnic Minorities History Project, Gloucestershire – Carrying out research into arrival and settlement of ethnic minorities in Gloucestershire and producing curriculum resources describing their findings.
  

• Pant Y Celyn Social Club, South Wales – Opening up access and training for the internet and email to older people living in a sheltered housing scheme.
  

• Loop path project, Ullapool Hill – Providing a circular walk on the Ullapool Hill as one of the only pavements outside the remote village of Ullapool, for people of all ages and fitness levels.

INNOVATION

• LAMPOST ICT, Walsall – Running a mobile computer centre around the region to allow people living in the most deprived areas of Walsall online computer training and usage.
  

• Safer Merthyr Tydfil, Wales – Creation of the ‘Homesafe’ burglary prevention initiative to reduce fear and crime amongst elderly and vulnerable residents and empower older people in the community.
  

• Tweed Rivers Heritage Project, Melrose – A varied collection of projects aiming to conserve, enhance and raise awareness of the natural, built and cultural heritage of the rivers and valleys of the Tweed catchment and to develop the recreational opportunities and quality of life in the region.

Notes

For further details about the awards or to nominate for the Awards 2004, please contact Helen Goreham on 020 7954 3417 or email helen@lottery-monitor.com