The People’s Millions, now in its fifth year, is a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and ITV which lets the public decide how millions of pounds of Big Lottery Fund cash is spent in their area.
This year the contest will make 69 awards of up to £50,000 across the 14 ITV regions to community projects that will enhance local facilities or help people to enjoy their local area. The contest is particularly looking for projects that enable people to get more involved in their community and that are original and imaginative.
A shortlist of projects in each region will be showcased on ITV’s local news programmes in the autumn where they will have to convince ITV viewers that they deserve the cash. It will then be up to the public to use their vote each night to decide which groups win the funding. Each region will have a best runner up award to give all projects a second chance to win.
The People’s Millions is part of BIG’s commitment to involve the public in deciding how Lottery money is spent. To date the competition has made 318 awards and invested around £18 million in community projects around the UK.
Sir Clive Booth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said:
“The People’s Millions is a brilliant chance for local groups and organisations to get funding for a project that will really make a difference to their communities.
“People shouldn’t be daunted by the idea of taking part. Past experience shows that for many groups The People’s Millions is the first time they’ve applied for lottery funding. And often those that think they’ve got little chance of winning are the ones that are successful.
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“The key is that the competition puts the public in charge of the Lottery purse strings and, as experts on their communities, lets them decide what local projects should be funded.”
Entry packs for The People’s Millions are available from today by calling the hotline: 08450 10 11 12 or by visiting www.peoplesmillions.org.uk. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2009.
Michael Grade, Executive Chairman of ITV, said:
“ITV has established a strong relationship with the Big Lottery Fund over the last five years. The partnership has helped to distribute £18 million of funds to date and we are delighted to play a part in helping the public choose how these life changing grants are awarded to good causes across the UK.”
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