Local people in Edinburgh and the Lothians will benefit from awards from the National Lottery Community Fund announced this week.

People in many parts of Scotland have received a £1.4m National Lottery cash boost this week. Some of the funds are intended to help older people get out of their homes and into their communities for tea dances, lunch clubs, men’s sheds and fitness classes.

Funding has been awarded to 16 community run projects in Scotland, the first time funding has been received from The National Lottery Community Fund, previously known as the Big Lottery Fund before its rebranding at the end of last month. The new name makes a clearer link between playing the National Lottery and the community projects which benefit. 

In Musselburgh, The Hollies Day Care Centre provides a wide range of support for local people over 60 years of age.  £120,000 has been awarded to the Centre which hopes to to add a daily lunch club, exercise classes and tea dances to the list of activities already on offer there. 

Liz Shannon, The Hollies Day Centre Manager, said: “The difference the award from The National Lottery Community Fund will make to the members and customers of the Hollies is immeasurable.

“It will allow us not only to maintain existing services but to expand what we already offer to the elderly population of Musselburgh and the surrounding areas.

“We will now be able to provide a programme of entertaining and structured activities for the over 60s in a warm, safe and comfortable environment. This funding will help us to prevent social isolation and give them a place to meet friends and to make new ones.”

Maureen McGinn, The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Chair, said: “Our name might have changed recently but our focus remains the same – funding projects which matter to people and communities.

“Feelings of isolation or loneliness are not just something that affect one particular age group or generation but can become more acute in later life.

”So I am delighted that some of this funding will go to projects supporting older people to engage with their local communities and also contribute to them using their skills and experience.” 

Other local organisations which benefit from National Lottery funding :

Loanhead After School Club and Community Nursery received £136,882. This group will build on their weekly programme of activities for residents of Loanhead. Current community led groups running from the centre include parent and toddler groups, kraft groups and lunch clubs. By employing a community links worker the centre will be able existing groups, upskill volunteers and create new groups based on feedback from the community.

Fast Forward (Positive Lifestyles) Limited gets £76,415 which they will use to deliver educational parenting workshops for vulnerable and at risk dads, grandads and male carers/guardians. Activities will include group workshops and one-to- one sessions where themes such as adolescence, risk taking behaviour in children and young people and navigating difficult conversations will be covered.

Move On gets £146,036 to provide mentoring to disadvantaged young people from 14-24. The young people will gain skills and develop resilience to meet life challenges.

Last year The National Lottery Community Fund handed out over £48m of funding to community projects across Scotland. Over 1130 projects benefitted from this money.

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In Scotland I attended Dunfermline High School from 2010 to 2016 and Edinburgh Napier University from 2016 to 2020, emerging with two Advanced Higher and five Higher qualifications from the former and graduating with an undergraduate bachelor of arts honours degree in journalism from the latter. After two years away from further education due to the coronavirus pandemic, I'm going to be studying the MFA Photography course at York St John University in England from 2022 to 2024. I've achieved The Duke of Edinburgh’s (Bronze) Award and received grade five level certification for electronic keyboard from Trinity College London. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, watching television series, listening to music and going to the cinema as well as catching up with friends, travelling by railway and hostelling overnight and overindulging in food and drinks in a pub or restaurant then having to go to the gym to burn it all off again.

By studying journalism and photography, my aim of practicing photojournalism professionally will hopefully be once step closer. Both are partial artforms requiring the rest of the work to be undertaken by the audience, the specialism of photojournalism, however, providing each of its two parts with greater context. Exploring photographic techniques (aerial, timelapse, editing) through a variety of journalistic styles (features, poetry, songwriting) will allow me to develop my portfolio, hone my camera skillset and narrow my focus further in anticipation of working life. Without a global pandemic to deal with this time. Fingers crossed.

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Adam Zawadzki
In Scotland I attended Dunfermline High School from 2010 to 2016 and Edinburgh Napier University from 2016 to 2020, emerging with two Advanced Higher and five Higher qualifications from the former and graduating with an undergraduate bachelor of arts honours degree in journalism from the latter. After two years away from further education due to the coronavirus pandemic, I'm going to be studying the MFA Photography course at York St John University in England from 2022 to 2024. I've achieved The Duke of Edinburgh’s (Bronze) Award and received grade five level certification for electronic keyboard from Trinity College London. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, watching television series, listening to music and going to the cinema as well as catching up with friends, travelling by railway and hostelling overnight and overindulging in food and drinks in a pub or restaurant then having to go to the gym to burn it all off again. By studying journalism and photography, my aim of practicing photojournalism professionally will hopefully be once step closer. Both are partial artforms requiring the rest of the work to be undertaken by the audience, the specialism of photojournalism, however, providing each of its two parts with greater context. Exploring photographic techniques (aerial, timelapse, editing) through a variety of journalistic styles (features, poetry, songwriting) will allow me to develop my portfolio, hone my camera skillset and narrow my focus further in anticipation of working life. Without a global pandemic to deal with this time. Fingers crossed.