Village halls project lands a £420k lottery windfall

Left to right, Clare Watkin, funding manager for The National Lottery Community Fund; Stephanie Ellis, funding officer at The National Lottery Community Fund; Louise Currie, community initiatives officer at Community Action Northumberland; and Sarah Benioff, England director at The National Lottery Community Fund.

The Northumberland Village Halls project, led by Community Action Northumberland (CAN), has been awarded more than £420,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund, previously known as the Big Lottery Fund.

It is one of the first organisations to be awarded money raised by National Lottery players, under the new name of the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

CAN will bring together village halls across the whole county of Northumberland, to share resources, skills and knowledge.

Louise Currie, community initiatives officer at Community Action Northumberland, said: “In rural villages where there are often very limited resources, no post office, no pub, no school or shop, the village hall is a lifeline, linking residents to vital services and bringing people together with their neighbours and wider community. Some people would have nowhere else to go without them.”

Sarah Benioff, England director at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “People tell us that village halls are often the heart of rural communities so we’re really happy that this funding can support more of these hubs to bring people together and allow them to play an active role in helping their communities to thrive.”