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Does your church have an upcoming project that would improve the space, making it more user friendly for the community? The National Lottery Awards for All England scheme provides grants of up to £20,000 if projects deliver at least one of the following:

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• Bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
• Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• Help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage
• Support people, communities and organisations facing more demands and challenges because of the cost-of-living crisis.

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The National Lottery Community Fund asks that projects involve the community in their design, development and delivery, respond to the needs and wishes of the particular community, and use the existing skills and experience of local people and their communities. Projects cannot be religious in content, even if they are run by churches, and they must be of potential benefit to the wider community. Projects that the National Lottery Awards for All England scheme has funded for churches in recent years have included:

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• £10,000 towards the redevelopment of the Fitzherbert Community Hub in the Parish of East Brighton, to reduce social isolation and enhance the well-being of     the community;
• £9,953 towards a new sound system (including hearing loop), and integrated screens and cameras at Our Lady of Sorrows, Bognor Regis, to make the parish building more inclusive for the community;
• Accessibility, safety, lighting, flooring, redecoration and furnishing improvements in many church halls used by community groups;
• Works to allow Food Banks to operate from church premises;
• Community gardens, to help reduce social isolation;
• Outdoor play equipment;
• An audio tour, to help connect schools, community groups and tourists to a church building;
• Churchyard improvements.

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To find out more about the projects that the National Lottery Awards for All England scheme can fund, click here and visit the National Lottery website. For help or advice about making an application, please contact our Communications Officer E: becky.sleven@abdiocese.org.uk.