The centenary of Girlguiding, a Mad Hatter’s tea party in Rugby, and an Afro-Brazilian dance group in Stoke are among the projects set to benefit from grants from the Big Lottery’s Fund’s Awards for All programme this month. A total of £178,908 is being distributed to 23 groups across the West Midlands in the latest round of awards. 
 
John Taylor, the Big Lottery Fund’s Head of Region for the West Midlands, said: “There are so many creative, thoughtful people out there doing so much for communities with little to fund their efforts. That’s where we are proud to step in and help get projects off to a good start or keep them going with almost £180,000 in lottery grants this month alone.”

Brazilian rhythms will soon be heard in Stoke after a community group received a grant of £5,000. Capoeira ART BRASIL Community Group will hold a series of music workshops to raise cultural awareness in disadvantaged communities. The workshops will be led by professional artists, enabling participants to come together and experience Afro-Brazilian music.

Meanwhile, in Rugby, young and old will attend a mad hatter’s tea party with a difference in Warwickshire after Education 4 Conservation Ltd received £9,860 to hold intergenerational picnics educating people about nature and food. Each picnic, which will be held on 25, 27 and 28 August at Garden Organic, Coventry, will be based on the Mad Hatter’s Party to engage the children and young people.

The centenary of Girlguiding is set to go with a bang after Girlguiding Coventry South received a grant of £10,000. The group will hold a centenary celebration event for all the girl guides in the area on 6 September at Butts Park Garden. The event will include sketches on the history of guiding and live entertainment.

Also celebrating in the West Midlands area are: The British Transport Pensioners Federation Walsall Branch, using an award of £1,135 to extend the provision of their services to less physically able and hard of hearing elderly members of the community.

The new resources will help to reduce isolation in the elderly community by extending access and participation to the group’s social outings and activities. Meanwhile, Lower Broadheath Parish Council in the Malvern Hills receives £3,147 to build two Petanque courts in the village to be enjoyed by residents of all ages, and Doxey Primary School in Staffordshire will install an adventure trail with £9,075.

BIG’s Awards for All programme launched on 1st April this year and, with £45million to distribute across England, it is the Fund’s biggest-ever commitment to a small grant scheme supporting community projects. The scheme offers grants of between £300 and £10,000 to social and environmental projects that will benefit local communities and make a difference to the lives of those most in need.