National Lottery passes the £3bn milestone in funding of Scottish projects

Figures show more than 60,000 groups have received grants since the lotto’s launch 23 years ago

The National Lottery says it has now invested £3 billion in more than 63,000 community, arts, heritage and sports projects north of the border since it launched in 1994.

To mark the milestone amount, it recently carried out a secret filming project to capture the reactions of four Scottish charities finding out they had been awarded Lottery funding.

Those featured in the one minute Raise a Smile video include Paralympian Judo player Sam Ingram as he learns £7,150 of National Lottery funding will create a new judo hub for visually impaired people in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire.

He said: “Those who are visually impaired like myself can sometimes struggle to find a suitable sport but judo has so much to offer.

“The Clydebank judo hub will really benefit young kids with visual impairment, help build their confidence and potentially discover a sport for life.

“I was blown away to hear the news about the funding and I can’t thank the players of National Lottery enough for making this possible.”

The other charities featured are Edinburgh-based Saheliya which seeks to tackle the isolation experienced by groups of minority ethnic women in the city.

It received £704,649 of National Lottery funding to facilitate its ‘Open Arms’ partnership programme with Sikh Sanjog, LINKNET and Mentoring, and Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council.

Riverside Hall, based in the Govan area of Glasgow, received £34,000 of National Lottery funding to develop and expand its current community garden.

Theatre Nemo in Glasgow received £7,400 of National Lottery funding to provide pupils from Trinity High School in Rutherglen who are experiencing mental health issues with access to art and music classes that explore the theme of mental health.

Jonathan Tuchner, from The National Lottery, said: “National Lottery players have raised a massive £3 billion to fund projects which make a life-changing difference right across Scotland.

“The ‘Raise a Smile’ video is thanking lottery players for making Scotland a happier place to live.”

0 Lucky: £3bn has been distributed