Two charities in Cardiff have been awarded grants by Hanfod Cymru, the independent charity established to distribute funding from money raised by Loteri Cymru ticket sales.
Space4U and Techniquest have both been awarded money as part of Hanfod Cymru’s initial Small Grants programme.
More than 70 applications were received for the Small Grants programme and Hanfod Cymru’s trustees awarded the first two Cardiff charitable organisations after evaluating how they planned to spend the money and how they would measure the grant’s impact.
Grants have been offered in various amounts ranging from £227 to £5,665 dependent on what the organisations applied for.
Eleven other charities across Wales have also been awarded funding including:
- Cylch Meithrin Hill Street – Wrexham
- Swansea Community Farm
- Resolven & District Resource Cyber Centre – Neath Port Talbot
- The Tanyard Youth Project Ltd – Pembrokeshire
- Community Heart Productions – Deeside
- Presteigne Festival – Presteigne
- Merthyr Tydfil Global Village
- Menter Iaith Caerffili – Caerphilly
- Cylch Meithrin Bethel – Gwynedd
- Cylch Meithrin y Felinheli – Gwynedd
- Cae Chwarae Edern – Edern Llyn
The money will now fund a variety of activities across Wales with an interest in educational, social and cultural benefits – the criteria set by Hanfod Cymru.
These projects include providing asylum seekers with a safe environment to make new connections in the UK, supporting outreach programmes to engage secondary pupils with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) enrichment activity in the most deprived areas of Wales and supporting Swansea’s city farm to increase and diversify the use of the farm’s facilities.
A minimum of 20% of Loteri Cymru gross ticket sale proceeds is being channelled to good causes in Wales through the charity.
Siôn Brynach, Chief Executive of Hanfod Cymru, said: “We were overwhelmed with the amount of applications we received, especially considering we only launched in April.
“The standard of entries was extremely high and it was very difficult to select the organisations that would receive the funding.
“We tried to ensure we had a good mix of grassroot causes and we felt that both Techniquest and Space4U clearly demonstrated how they help deliver educational, social or cultural benefits for the communities in Wales.
“All of the charities are thrilled to receive the funding and we’re looking forward to visiting them in the future to find out how the grants have benefitted them and their local community.”
Sue Carter, Chief Executive of Loteri Cymru, said: “The charity trustees have worked tirelessly to determine who would receive the first round of funding and it’s great that so many worthy organisations could be supported.
“It is clear that supporting local Welsh causes is a key motivation for many of our Loteri Cymru players. Clearly, the idea of a ‘win-win for Wales’ is one which resonates with the public.”
Hanfod Cymru is constituted as an independent charity, with its own Board of Trustees. It operates independently of Loteri Cymru, which oversees the weekly draw.
Loteri Cymru offers a weekly jackpot of £25,000, in line with the ceiling allowed under society lottery rules. Tickets cost just £1 and jackpot winners will need to match five of 39 drawn numbers. Other, smaller prizes will also be up for grabs for matching fewer numbers.
Every ticket – unless it has scooped the jackpot – is entered free into Loto+, a monthly raffle offering 10 guaranteed £1000 prizes.
More information on how to apply for funding is available at www.hanfodcymru.wales
