The National Lottery: 25 Birthday Stories

25TH BIRTHDAY STORIES

To read the full length version of these stories, visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk

2

Cover: Sarah McPherson, founder of Mini Donks, a charity that takes miniature donkeys into care homes, psychiatric hospitals and special schools. Sarah is holding her National Lottery Local Legend award.

Back cover: Dancer Krystal Lowe in the main rehearsal space at The National Lottery-funded headquarters of Ballet Cymru in Newport, Wales.

Foreword by Jonathan Tuchner, Director at The National Lottery Promotions Unit The National Lottery has passed the test of time. As we came together to tell its 25th birthday story, we wanted to find the best way to authentically capture the scale of stories from across the whole of the UK. We agreed we had to work alongside someone who could go to local communities, talk to people and see first hand the difference The National Lottery has made to their lives. It is their compelling stories we wanted to tell.

Over the past eight months, Richard Jinman has travelled the length and breadth of the UK to track down some of the people and projects that embody the transformational impact of The National Lottery. All of his images and stories reveal how often small sums of money bring people together and illuminate lives across the whole of society.

We hope that this book reflects not only the successes of the past 25 years, but also reveals our commitment to amplify younger voices as they bring us the new thinking we all need for The National Lottery to continue to evolve over the next 25 years.

I would like to thank Richard for his skill and tenacity in creating this book. I would also like to thank the whole of The National Lottery family for coming together to tell our 25th birthday story. Most of all, I would like to thank the National Lottery players who make all of these remarkable things possible.

Words and pictures: Richard Jinman Design: Daniel Drakes 3

A children’s class in East Belfast run by The Belfast Community Circus School

4

On a rainy evening in East Belfast a church hall is filled with the sound of children learning to juggle, ride unicycles and swing from a trapeze. The Belfast Community Circus School was started in 1985 at a time when there was a desperate need to bring young

people from Northern Ireland’s different communities together.

Since then, it has flourished with help from The National Lottery, becoming a leading light in the world of social circus and moving its headquarters to purpose-built premises in central Belfast.

Catherine Tryfona at The Llanrumney Phoenix Boxing Club in Llanrumney, Cardiff “As a busy mum with a full time job I still get to train and keep my hand in with a sport that I love,” says Catherine.

“Llanrumney Phoenix has given me that.” Catherine is a member of Boxing Pretty, an all-women group that meets at

the National Lottery-funded gym. “It allows women of all ages to train in an environment that isn’t intimidating,” she says.

Daughter Chrissa spars alongside her mother and Catherine’s eight-year-old son Gabriel watches from the side lines.

5

Former Olympic track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy photographed in London, England

6

“The National Lottery has been absolutely central to my career and without it I wouldn’t be an Olympic champion,” says Sir Chris.

The Scottish star was speaking at a gathering of Olympic and Paralympic medallists at an event in Stratford showcasing the

transformative effect of National Lottery funding on elite sport.

Since funding began in 1997, a total of 864 medals have been won

by Olympians and Paralympians. More than 5,000 athletes have benefitted from access to superlative facilities and support.

David Corr and Jess Reid, dancers at DanceSyndrome in Preston, England “When people walk through the door they’re a dancer - other concerns are left behind,” says Dawn Vickers, the Managing Director of DanceSyndrome. Formed in 2009 by Jen Blackwell - a dancer who happens to have Down’s Syndrome - the company

brings together people of different abilities to make inspiring contemporary dance. “Dancing just makes me happy,” says Jess, who was busy rehearsing with her dance partner, David. “I can dance any bad feeling away.”

7

Jim O’Brien, a member of The North West Wolves Wheelchair Basketball Club, Derry, Northern Ireland

8

Jim, who has spina bifida, has only been part of The National Lottery-funded club for a year, but says the training sessions have done wonders for his physical and mental health. “I feel better about myself because I’m doing something that I like and keeping

my mind focussed,” he says. Jim recently pulled himself out of his wheelchair and into the team bus without assistance for the first time, a feat that gave him a real sense of pride. “It was a great achievement for myself,” he says with a smile.

Beth Lewis and Mouse at The Clwyd Special Riding Centre, Flintshire, Wales “I just love him,� says Beth when asked to describe Mouse, a gentle Fell pony who lives at The Clwyd Special Riding School.

Born with a severe craniofacial condition, Beth endured years of surgery that left her feeling self-conscious, isolated and

depressed. Since she began volunteering at the School more than two years ago, the 27-year-old has built her confidence and formed a strong bond with Mouse. Now, she helps others overcome their fears at the National Lottery-funded facility.

9

Brooke Moorehead with photographs she took at the Maze Long Kesh site, County Down, Northern Ireland

10

“We didn’t want the focus to be on the prison, we wanted to capture the bigger picture,” says Adrian Bird, Director of the Resurgam Trust , an organisation that used National Lottery funding to allow 24 students to research and photograph the

Maze Long Kesh site where political prisoners were held during The Troubles. For 18-year-old Brooke Moorehead, the year-long project was a revelation, giving her a newfound understanding of the 347-acre site on her doorstep.

Aina More, a singer, rapper and MC, photographed in Kentish Town, London, England When Aina (whose full name is Aina Morenike Olukoga) won a competition organised by The National Lottery-backed Big Music Project, it was an emotional moment. “It was the first and only time my dad got to see me perform,” says the talented Londoner.

She began rhyming in rap battles at her South London school.

Her style is informed by theatre - she’s a member of performance company Silhouettes in the Dark - and her videos and shows use physical theatre techiques to underpin the words.

11

John Martin at his home on the Isle of Gigha off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland

12

“Feudalism is a thing I don’t care for,” says John, who moved to Gigha in 1971 and worked for a succession of its wealthy owners.

When the islanders got the chance to buy their six mile-long home with the help of money from The National Lottery, he was

resolutely in favour. Gigha’s residents took possession of the small island on 15 March, 2002, a date celebrated each year since by the stirring sound of bagpipes and the raising of an Isle of Gigha flag outside the island’s only hotel.

Olivia, Ava and Catie in the grounds of St Alban’s Church of England Primary School, Havant, England Becoming involved in Polli:Nation - a National Lottery-backed scheme that saw 260 UK schools improve the habitat for bees and other pollinating insects - helped Olivia find her confidence and her voice. “I developed this absolute love for everything

outdoors,” says the 11-year-old. “I started to speak up more and I spoke about my love for pollinators.” Polli:Nation’s impact on participating schools has been profound, with students building and tending new habitats and bug hotels.

13

Osian Spence plays his cornet at a rehearsal for The Morecambe Youth Band, Morecambe, England

14

“We had all these children who wanted to play, but couldn’t because we didn’t have the instruments,” says Bernard Vause, the President of The Morecambe Brass Band. Enter The National Lottery. In June 1995, the band became the recipient of the

very first National Lottery cheque to good causes. It used the money to buy 24 brass instruments - an assortment of cornets, trombones, tubas and euphoniums - many of which are still played by the ensemble’s younger members.

Laurie Price, a trainee at The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highlands Railways, Porthmadog, Wales Laurie has a masters degree in conservation, but loves the hands on work at the Welsh railway’s Boston Lodge yards. “In museums it’s all about preserving objects - here it’s making them work efficiently,” she says. “You’re getting the locomotives ready for

the season and there are strict deadlines. I’m not an office person.

I much prefer coming in here and getting covered in dirt and going home knackered.” Her favourite engines to work on are those made by Leeds-based The Hunslet Engine Company.

15

Maureen and Steven York at a Happy and Healthy class at Great Sankey Neighbourhood Hub, Warrington, England

16

Attending a regular exercise class would be almost impossible for Steven York, a retired teacher diagnosed with Alzheimer’s seven years ago.“If we went to an ordinary gym and he started being too boisterous, it would be really awkward,” his wife Maureen explains.

The dementia-friendly Happy and Healthy exercise classes at the National Lottery-funded Neighbourhood Hub have proved the perfect solution. “It’s brilliant because everyone is in the same situation,” says Maureen.

Filmmaker Prano Bailey-Bond photographed with a vintage camera at her home in London, England Prano Bailey-Bond remembers feeling “really excited” the first time she heard a scream at a screening of one of her movies.

“I want to unsettle people and make them think about darker things,” says the award winning 36-year-old filmmaker. In

2017 she was one of 17 participants chosen to take part in a professional development programme run by the BFI using money from The National Lottery. Designed to foster “disruptors and iconoclasts”, it was a “brilliant experience,” she says.

17

Trombonist Symone in a practice room at Big Noise, Stirling, Scotland

18

Symone, a trombone player from Stirling, is well on her way to fulfillng her dream of becoming a professional musician and travelling the world with a top orchestra. Her journey from introverted, unhappy child to confident, skilled young musician,

was achieved with the help of the Big Noise programme.

Launched by the charity Sistema Scotland in 2008, it gives children and young people in disadvantaged communities the opportunity to learn and play an instrument.

GB boxer Ben Whittaker at The Pat Benson Boxing Academy, Birmingham, England “Boxing has changed my life,” says Ben Whittaker during a visit to the Pat Benson Boxing Academy, a gym in central Birmingham using National Lottery funds to offer programmes designed to improve the health and wellbeing of people with mental health

issues. Ben, whose sights are fixed on the Tokyo Olympics, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was a child. His father took him to a gym to “burn off some energy and get a bit of discipline” and he has never looked back.

19

Lucas McBrearty and his grandmother Goretti Quinn at The Imaginarium, Newry, Northern Ireland

20

“It’s the kind of old fashioned play that children don’t get anymore,” says Goretti as her grandson, Lucas, 4, makes a spider out of a discarded bottle and pipe cleaners. Housed in an old warehouse on a busy street in Newry, The National Lottery-

funded Imaginarium is a place where imaginations run wild and children of all ages and abilities rediscover the lost art of making their own fun. The centrepiece is Storyland – a place that’s home to a sleepy troll, a beach with real sand and a steampunk ship.

Women participating in an All Stars Cricket session in Birmingham, England Imaan Ahmed prefers batting to bowling, but seems to have a gift for both. “It’s great fun,” says the 12-year-old who accompanied her 5-year-old brother Eesa to an hour-long All Stars training session organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board

(ECB). A National Lottery grant is helping the organisation recruit thousands of female role models to extend the All Stars programme into South Asian communities in some of the UK’s biggest cities.

21

Gordon Wilson and Helen Pickering, patrons of the Campbeltown Picture House, Campbeltown, Scotland

22

By day, Gordon Wilson is a welder at a company that makes the giant towers supporting wind turbines. But two, sometimes three times a week, he loses himself in an action adventure movie, a science fiction flick or a comedy. “You get reality seven days a

week,” says the 54-year-old who is a regular at the Campbeltown Picture House, one of Scotland’s first purpose-built cinemas. The picturesque two-screen threatre was lovingly restored with the help of money from The National Lottery.

Kyle Webster and Zak Cameron at their Into Film club in Warrington, England Zak had a tough time at school. The teenager, who is on the autistic spectrum and has ADHD, was badly bullied. Forming an Into Film club - an initiative funded by The National Lottery - with his best friend Kyle, has boosted his confidence and fuelled his

passion for cinema. The friends have become a formidable double act and their club regularly attracts more than 40 young people.

“The fact we’ve got such a special thing together has really strengthened our friendship,” says Kyle.

23

Waiter Alan Thompson at the Superstars Cafe in Cookstown, Northern Ireland

24

Alan’s smile has made him a bit of a celebrity at the Superstars Cafe, a social enterprise on the busy main road that bisects Cookstown in County Tyrone. “I like working here,” he says. “It makes me happy.” Alan is one of about 30 trainees with learning

disabilities picking up valuable life skills at the National Lotteryfunded project. Across the road, a second facility called The Enterprise, offers a further 70 people training and paid work assembling parts for local engineering firms.

Anne and Henry Rankin with dementia dog, Uno, at home in Glasgow, Scotland When Henry was first diagnosed with dementia he thought his life was over. But the arrival of Uno - a ‘dementia dog’ trained to aid, assist and reassure his owner - has been a game changer for both Henry and his wife. Uno is extremely sensitive to Henry’s mood.

If he senses confusion or anxiety he will offer comfort by putting his head on the retired police officer’s knee. “Uno has given Henry a reason to get up in the morning,” says Anne. “He makes him go out for a walk and socialise.”

25

Frieda Ford, Charlie Mills and Elise Devaux at Bold Tendencies in London, England

26

In 2016, Charlie Mills and a team of young artists began applying bubble gum pink paint to the ten-storey stairwell inside a former car park in South London. The result: an eye-popping installation conceived by artist Simon Whybray. The sea of pink sets the tone

at Bold Tendencies, an arts centre whose mission is to “make great things available to everyone�. Funds from The National Lottery help it deliver everything from classical music concerts to the cutting-edge art i nstallations on the roof.

Norman Hickson and his wife Ellen at a Wigan Warriors match in Wigan, England Norman hugs his wife, Ellen, and punches the air as Super League side Wigan Warriors run in the first of eight tries. “Coming to a match like this with your wife, well, it’s brilliant isn’t it,” he says.

Ellen was diagnosed with dementia four years ago. But since

joining Rugby Memories – a dementia friendly group set up by the Wigan Warriors Community Foundation with the help of National Lottery funding – the couple have found a wealth of support, empathy and much needed fun.

27

Wanda Mayer on her allotment at St Ann’s Allotments, Nottingham, England

28

When Wanda feels depressed or anxious she heads for her “haven”, a secluded piece of land at the 75-acre St Ann’s Allotments site. “I can be really down, but if I come up here and do something my mood changes,” she says. Thirty years ago

the allotments were almost derelict. But in 2008, a £4.5m grant from The National Lottery helped kickstart a massive restoration project. Today, hundreds of passionate gardeners like Wanda, are reaping the rewards.