Lotto snubs families of fallen heroes – but gives £900k to prison radio
THE families of servicemen killed in action have condemned the National Lottery for snubbing them in favour of funding a radio station for prisoners.
The Scottish Daily Mail revealed earlier this week that nearly £900,000 will be used to set up a ‘creative media unit’ at Scotland’s newest superjail, HMP Grampian.
But a respected charity which helps bereaved servicemen’s families saw its request for Lottery funding turned down twice.
Forces Support says its initial bid for £350,000 over a three-year period was rejected but Lottery officials advised the organisation to re- apply and the charity drafted in outside consultants to help, costing it £3,000.
But the second bid was also turned down and the charity – which provides DIY and gardening help to relatives of soldiers killed on active duty and builds memorial gardens – claims it was advised not to make a further application as other organisations were more likely to qualify.
The Big Lottery fund insisted l ast night that i t had been ‘talking to Forces Support to advise them on their future applications for funding.’
Last night the row sparked anger that public cash was being squandered on criminals while the families of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country have been ignored.
Scots-born Bill McCance, 48, who set up Forces Support fourand-a-half years ago, contacted the Mail after our disclosures about the Lottery award for prisoners.
He said: ‘In November last year, the second bid was rejected and I spoke to someone at the Lottery who told me I shouldn’t try again because there would always be other organisations which were more likely than we were to qualify for funding.
‘ I can understand being rejected, and I have no objection in principle to prisoners benefiting from Lottery funding, if it helps them, but I think it was wrong that I was basically told I shouldn’t bother applying for funding again.’
Last night Rose Gentle, 52, of Pollok, Glasgow, whose 19-yearold son Gordon was killed in Iraq in 2004, said: ‘The help the charity provided was fantastic.
‘It seems wrong to me, as someone who plays the Lottery and contributes to it, that it is prepared to fund a new radio station for prisoners – a silly project – but not vital work like this.’
Commenting last night, Scottish Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘ Anyone can see this is a misuse of cash. It’s staggering to think a scheme to train criminals to DJ could be prioritised over helping bereaved families.’
The Big Lottery Fund said it ‘has a long history of supporting veterans’ organisations’. A spokesman said: ‘Unfortunately, demand for Big Lottery funding is extremely high and always outstrips supply.
‘Our funding team have been talking to Forces Support to advise them on their future applications for funding.’
‘Anyone can see this is a misuse of cash’