Awards for All grants for 25 societies

Jul 30 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

A TOTAL of 25 Merseyside organisations are celebrating after receiving grants under the National Lottery’s Awards for All programme.

The Liverpool-based African Song Bird is awarded £9,940 for a series of small community-based events showcasing West African art to the wider population, and to set up an artists’ network.

Juliet Edgar, secretary of African Song Bird said: “There are quite a few members of the West African community around Liverpool but they tend to be widely dispersed.

“They are from several different countries, and some have been here for years, while others have arrived quite recently.

“We are looking at ways of promoting West African culture and of integrating it into the mainstream. It is a wonderful tradition but it is not very well known here.

“This money is fantastic and will allow us to show West African art in a positive light to the majority white population.”

Meanwhile, the Ceylonese Society in Liverpool has received £7,000 to organise Sri Lankan cultural events for the wider community, and to run trips and seminars so that young Sri Lankan people can learn more about the history and tradition of the city.

Society treasurer Sean Fernando said: “We shall be running two main cultural events, with traditional Ceylonese games, food and, we hope, live music from a Ceylonese band, and we’ll be inviting local people from outside the Ceylonese community to join us.”

Other groups to benefit in this round of awards include two that are celebrating Liverpool’s history. St John’s Residents’ Association, Knowsley, receive £1,210 for a project on the history of commerce, including the role of the Manchester ship canal, while Hope Street Limited, Liverpool, receives £9,851 so that local disadvantaged groups can make a film marking the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city.

The newly-formed Empire Morris Dancers, Liverpool, receives £4,800 to help the group to get established and take part in competitions, while Liverpool String Orchestra is awarded £2,500 to expand its repertoire and develop its members.

Michelle McNamee, Big Lottery Fund head of the North West region, said: “This round of Awards for All grants in the North West continues to give help to a wide range of organisations for small-scale community projects.

“These projects, whether they are cultural events bringing the community together, historical learning ventures, or music and dance projects, continue to provide services and activities that improve the lives of disadvantaged people throughout our region.”

Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England.

The scheme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to grass roots community groups and voluntary organisations.

ONE of the groups to be awarded a grant, the Hope Street project, are holding two children’s music workshops next week.

They take place on July 30 and 31 at Mossley Hill church hall, Rose Lane, starting at 10.30am. The fee per child per session is £3.

Places can be booked via hope.street@btconnect.com or on 0151 281 0010.

alanweston