Rotherham groups share £1.8m lottery bonanza

Arts, sports and community groups, as well as heritage projects and charities shared the money in 94 grants.

They included £10,000 each to the Rotherham Cancer Care Centre and  Rotherham Unit 287 of the Sea Cadet Corps and £9,250 to Kiveton-based Discreets Urban Dance Academy.

Lottery-funded organisations are being invited to enter the National Lottery awards.

The awards are open to any organisation which has received lottery funding in the last 18 years.

TV star John Barrowman, who last year’s National Lottery Awards show, said: “The National Lottery raises £30 million a week for good causes and the awards are a great way of celebrating the life changing difference these projects make.

“The National Lottery Awards recognise the unsung heroes, dedicated workers and selfless volunteers making great use of Lottery funding. If you know of a Lottery-funded organisation that deserves to be nominated, we want to hear from you.”

There are seven categories in the National Lottery Awards, each reflecting an area of Lottery funding: sport, heritage, arts, environment, health, education and voluntary/charity.

The winners will receive a £2,000 cash prize and national recognition at a star-studded event broadcast on BBC 1 later this year.

To find out more, visit www.nationallotteryawards.org.uk or call 020 7293 3599. The awards are now open for entries and any projects wishing to enter can do so by visiting the website.

The closing date for entries is 9am on March 19.