The National Lottery's small grants scheme is awarding almost £17,000 to the local organisations as part of a grants rollout of £808,996 to 113 groups across Northern Ireland.

Link in Ballymoney received £9,960. The group provides support, advice and guidance for people with drug and alcohol problems and their families. The Lottery cash is being used to part fund the group's drop in centre and provide education courses for young people.

Meanwhile Dalriada School was granted £10,000. The school improves the education and development of young people aged 4 -11, will use the Lottery grant to provide an outdoor play facility for pupils to use.
Carnany Youth Club received £5,620. The group provides youth activities for young people in the area. The Lottery grant will be used to run a fun week and residential for young people.

And finally Comhaltas Dun Lathai near Dunloy received over £1,100 towards its work to promote Irish music, song and dance to the wider community.

"We'll be using this funding to hold ceilidhs and workshops bringing people together from different communities and generally raising awareness of these traditions," said local man Barney Hughes who, at 75-years-old, still enjoys the craic of the ceilidh.

"The group has been going around 30 years and I've been involved since the start – I must be one of the last surviving original members
"Because many of the people who come to the ceilidhs are older, the dancing also provides them with good exercise while they're enjoying themselves – they hardly notice. It's become a great social thing for them too – you'll see three or four of them jumping into a car and heading off to a ceilidh miles away."

Barney said that they were also attracting more young people. "Nothing raises my spirits like seeing the young ones enjoying themselves – they've such energy and it rubs off on you. It really gives me a lift."
Awards for All Programme Manager, Punam McGookin said: "The Awards for All programme, supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport Northern Ireland continues to make a huge impact in local communities. It is clear that there is a real need for such funding and that smaller projects can bring positive changes to the lives of local people.

"The popularity of Awards for All is growing. Its application process is user friendly and shall remain so, with funding continuing to favour smaller groups. The accessibility of the programme has been key to its success in Northern Ireland."
For a full list of award recipients visit: http://www.awardsforall.org.uk/northernireland/news.html