‘This year people have opened up to each other…we want that to continue’: The Devon organisations supporting their community, thanks to National Lottery Funding
New figures released today reveal that nearly £1.5 million has gone to community groups across Devon this year*, thanks to National Lottery players. Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, vital National Lottery funding has enabled inspiring local good causes to carry on their amazing work and bring glimmers of hope to their communities.
The money, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, has helped communities to overcome some of this year’s obstacles to deliver crucial support and bring a sense of togetherness to people while they have had to remain apart.
One project is tackling a problem faced by many men, in quite a unique way, thanks to a £10,000 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund. Beer Men’s Shed, located in Beer, East Devon, is providing a place for an often forgotten section of the community to connect.
Chris Pickles, Chairman of the Beer Men’s Shed, said: “I moved here when I retired and quickly realised after chatting with my neighbours that there was lots of residents of Beer and the surrounding area who were feeling very isolated. Many of them were living alone or retired and spending lots of the day by themselves, with all the skills they had honed over their life going to waste.”
Chris, along with four others, decided to try and combat this problem by setting up workshops and drop-in sessions in their own garages where men could get together, work on projects and make friends. It was a huge success and soon they were able to open a purpose build workshop. It was up and running in late 2019 and word was beginning to spread to neighboring towns and villages. Then COVID-19 hit.
“In March when we had to stop, it was very painful for many of the men who come along. The sessions really do mean a lot to people” said Chris. “One guy said to me ‘today’s been a great day, I had a walk along the cliffs’; a year ago, he could barely bring himself to get out of his armchair. When it was allowed, we started doing socially distanced sessions in our workshop, but that meant we couldn’t operate at capacity. It didn’t feel right leaving some people out.”
Now, thanks to National Lottery funding the Beer Men’s Shed will open a second workshop to help them with demand for their project.
Another Devon project supporting their community thanks to National Lottery funding is Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub. The project will see the construction of the Sidmouth Fisherman's Shed where the town's annual Sea Festival is taking up permanent residence, creating a dedicated space where local people can meet and connect with their community.
Louise Cole, Programme Director at Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, said: “The purpose of the festival has always been to connect people to Sidmouth’s history and its relationship with the sea. We are a small, rural town living in a little bubble. The shed will eventually, when safe, provide a place where people can sit, connect, create and chat. I think that’s so important after the isolation of this last year”.
Thanks to nearly £10,000 of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, Louise Cole and Coco Hodgkinson, a local artist, plan to make the shed a cosy, welcoming and accessible place for everyone to create art and connect with their town’s heritage.
“It’s in these places that creativity can be sparked for everybody,” continued Louise. “We don’t all have access to museums or art galleries. There is no cost or barrier for people to enjoy what we are doing here.”
Rowan Miller, Head of Funding for the South West of England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “I am incredibly proud that we have distributed nearly £1.5 million across Devon in what has been an extremely difficult year, helping communities to take action when it has been needed most. We’re delighted we could fund so many groups, volunteers and community workers to provide vital support across the city.
“Beer Men’s Shed and Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub’s work epitomises what we seek to support at The National Lottery Community Fund - they have done an amazing job adapting to difficult circumstances. I am inspired and reassured by the strength we have seen in Devon’s communities throughout this turbulent year, demonstrating that communities are more important than ever.”
Devon isn’t alone in benefiting from vital National Lottery funding. Today it was announced that over £650 million has been distributed to more than 13,000 community organisations across the UK throughout 2020*.
Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for the UK’s good causes, and £41 billion has been distributed to 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994.
Last year, we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK. Over eight in ten (83%) of our grants are for under £10,000 - going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are doing great things to support their communities through these challenging times.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk