Glasgow’s Little Legends Welcome 2014 Games Sporting Star
3rd June 2014
Scottish groups receive 2014 Games National Lottery grants
Scottish Para Sports athlete Samantha Kinghorn today (TUES 3 JUNE) took time out of her busy 2014 Games training schedule to celebrate with Glasgow pupils from the Little Legends Commonwealth Sports project.
The project, run by Club World Sports Limited is one of 265 across Scotland today (3 JUNE) sharing in National Lottery funding worth £967,245 from the Celebrate and 2014 Communities funds for a range of unique sports, arts, heritage and community 2014 Games inspired activities.
Joining pupils of St Savior’s Primary School for some sporting fun, 17 year old Wheelchair Racer, Samantha Kinghorn, helped the Little Legends Commonwealth Sports project celebrate its £8,750 award. Samantha is one of more than 1300 elite athletes that The National Lottery funds across the UK, many of whom will be representing their home nation at Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. She said: “My own racing career has really taken off with the support of National Lottery funding and it’s fantastic to see how it’s also helping young people to take part in sport, get fitter and healthier. Everyone who plays The National Lottery should be proud of the difference the money is making.”
Announcing today’s £967,245 investment Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Jackie Killeen, said: “I am delighted that Para Sports athlete Samantha Kinghorn could join us to celebrate the latest awards from the 2014 Communities and Celebrate funds. Samantha is a wonderful role model to young people who either want to pursue sport as a career or simply as a way of keeping fit and leading a healthy lifestyle. As well as funding a number of sports projects, today’s investment will bring communities together to enjoy a range of events such as Queen’s Baton relay races, street parties, arts exhibitions and heritage projects highlighting local links to Commonwealth Countries. In doing so they will help ensure that communities across Scotland benefit from the 2014 Games.”
The Little Legends Commonwealth Sports project will use its award to provide coaching in a range of sport and physical activities for 500 early years and primary school aged children across Glasgow. The children will also learn about Commonwealth Games sports, countries, cultures and athletes and will come together to take part in a school sporting festival in September. To help ensure a lasting legacy from the project, coaches will then run sports clubs in local communities.
Scott Allison of Club World Sports Limited, said: “We are delighted to receive this financial support from the Celebrate fund which will enable us to provide new regular sporting activities for over 500 children across the southside of Glasgow. The Glasgow Commonwealth Games is a fantastic event for our city and will hopefully inspire more people to get active and take up sport. The support we are receiving from the Celebrate fund allows us to create new opportunities for young people to take part in sport in their own community. We will be working closely with our partners from active schools in Glasgow to ensure local children not only take part in fun sporting activities, but also learn more about the Commonwealth Games, the athletes and the cultures that are coming together for this fantastic event.'
Cabinet Secretary for Sport, Shona Robison, said: “As the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow draws ever closer, we are focusing on – among many things – securing a lasting legacy for the people of Scotland.
“Part of that legacy is to encourage people, both children and adults, to become more active and get more involved in sport across their local communities. The National Lottery funding will go a long way to preserving the Legacy everyone connected to the Games has worked so hard to achieve.”
Celebrate is a joint programme from all four Scottish Lottery Distributors: Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund and sportscotland. It supports one off arts, heritage, sports and community events to celebrate the people, places and culture of the Commonwealth and of the Games themselves.
2014 Communities awards Big Lottery Fund grants to projects that introduce Scots of all ages to a wide range of physical activities, volunteering opportunities and healthier lifestyles.
Details of the wide range of 2014 legacy projects supported by the Big Lottery Fund are available at http://bigblogscotland.org.uk/2014/02/24/our-2014-legacy/
For a full list of all projects sharing in funding today in your area go to
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/news-and-events.
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Notes to editors
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1483 or 1451
Out of hours media contact: 07795 454924
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland
Notes to Editors:
• Celebrate is a £4 million joint awards programme from the four Scottish Lottery distributors: Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland Heritage Lottery Fund and sportscotland
• Celebrate allows communities across Scotland to apply for up to £10,000 to organise events that celebrate the 2014 Commonwealth Games through arts, heritage, sports, community and local celebrations or events that celebrate the people places and culture of the commonwealth.
• 2014 Communities, run by the Big Lottery Fund, is a micro grants programme, offering local sports clubs, voluntary and community organisations, community councils and schools grants of £300 to £2,000 to support and stimulate grass roots involvement in sport and physical activity.
• 2014 Communities is about building a legacy of well-being before and beyond the Commonwealth Games. It aims to encourage more people to take part or volunteer in sport or physical activity as well as encourage greater community cohesion in the run up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £30 billion has now been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
Ends release
Issued: 3/6/14