Change local lives

#CelebrateNationalLottery25 is offering a share of £2million for community projects ... and they want your ideas!

The National Lottery is celebrating 25 years of supporting good causes across the UK by running a £2million community fund. #CelebrateNationalLottery25 is giving people the chance to apply for grants of between £100 and £1,000 for an event, activity, or item to purchase, that brings the community together in 2020.

You’ll be absolutely amazed at what can be achieved when a small grant meets a big imagination!

Midlands-based special-needs teacher Sue Coombes applied for a small grant from The National Lottery to buy five hens and a designer hen house, which have helped to transform the lives of children with learning difficulties. Here she explains how...

“I set up Rainbow Horses Learning Centre in 2011, after working as a teacher of children with autism in a specialist school. We work with children across four counties – Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

“It all came about one summer when I set up a pilot programme where autistic children interacted with horses. I couldn’t believe the positive impact it had on them in such a short space of time. I saw improvements with speech, sleep, anxiety and social and communication skills. It was amazing.

“Animals don’t tell lies, they don’t say one thing and mean another, and for young people with autism this can be really important.

“We applied for National Lottery funding last summer to pay for our Rainbow Chickens Project.We were able to pay for a state-of-the-art chicken house, feeders and food for five former battery hens, and have since helped more than 20 children as well as their families.

“I’d say to anyone thinking of applying for funding for a community project to just go for it.

“The whole process is quick and painless, but the results can be huge.”

‘Animals don’t say one thing and mean another, and for the kids with autism this is important’