National Lottery

• National Lottery

The Big Lottery Fund is to pump a multi-million pound package of funding into communities to help them cope with the effects of the recession and increase its funding commitment to the Voluntary and Community Sector following its Big thinking Consultation, it has been announced.

• National Lottery

The Big Lottery Fund's Awards for All programme will reopen on 1 April 2009 but guidelines are available now from the Big Lottery Fund's website.

The scheme is largely the same as the previous awards programme except this time arts, sports and natural heritage organisations must apply through the other lottery distribution bodies.

Awards are again for £500 to £10,000.

• National Lottery

NICVA has drafted its response to the Big Lottery Fund's Big Thinking Consultation. In producing this draft response NICVA wants to encourage organisations in the voluntary and community sector to respond to the consultation on its future programmes in Northern Ireland.

• National Lottery

Congratulations to the five local winners of £50,000 or more from the National Lottery People's Millions programme. The winners were: Maydown Community Association, Foyle Women's Aid, Gran Tots Playgroup, Belmont Pre-school Playgroup and St Bernadette's Primary School.

• National Lottery

NICVA wants to encourage the voluntary and community sector to make a big response to the Big Lottery Fund's consultation on its future programmes in Northern Ireland. The consultation is now open and information available from www.big-thinking.org.uk.

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NICVA is urging organisations seeking a small grant for sports activity to apply to Awards for All by the deadline of 15 December 2008. After this date, Sport NI will no longer be part ofthe Awards for All scheme.

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The Big Lottery Fund is urging organisations and individuals across the UK to engage in the debate on how BIG's funding should be allocated through its grant programmes between 2009 and 2015. Watch the You Tube Video

• National Lottery

Organisations across Northern Ireland are gearing up for the latest round of voting for people's millions. Eight Northern Ireland projects will compete in pairs on separate nights on UTV for the public vote to win £50,000.

• National Lottery

The Heritage Lottery Fund has provided funding of £50k to the Northern Ireland Science park to raise the titanic's Belfast heritage profile. At the same time as awarding this grant HLF has announced that its total investment in Northern Ireland's heritage has reached £120 million.

• National Lottery

The Big Lottery Fund is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Northern Ireland Committee Member to make decisions on how National Lottery Good Cause funding is invested to improve the lives of local people.