Good Causes

Celebrities unveil National Lottery good causes installations in 4 cities

Olympic champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy has unveiled a striking installation in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden designed to celebrate The National Lottery’s 27th birthday and its enduring mission to spark positive change in our communities.

The installation is made of 636 National Lottery balls representing the more than 636,000 projects that have benefited from funding across the sports, art, heritage and community sectors during the past 27 years. Inscribed with the word ‘BUILD’, it is 1 of 4 National Lottery installations unveiled by famous faces in Edinburgh, London, Cardiff and Antrim.

Former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle took the wraps off a similar installation at Antrim Castle Gardens bearing the word ‘DREAMS’. Meanwhile, Love Island 2021 winner Liam Reardon did the honours at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, unveiling an installation carrying the word ‘CREATE’ in English and ‘CREU’ in Welsh.

The 4th installation – carrying the word ‘CHANGE’ – made its debut in Trafalgar Square with singer, songwriter and actor Alexandra Burke lifting the wraps.

Alexandra said, “What I love about working in music and performing arts is its ability to connect people and to inspire creativity as we push boundaries together. The National Lottery really acts as the backbone to give so many venues, productions and artists around the UK the ability to stage the events and performances we love so much.”

Speaking at the unveiling of the Edinburgh installation, Sir Chris Hoy said, “My own Olympic dreams were made possible by the outstanding funding provided by National Lottery players, which has completely transformed British sport over the last decade. I am so proud to be taking part in this exciting campaign and have the opportunity to celebrate all of the things that National Lottery players continue to make possible.”

The 4 installations – each the result of 500 hours of work by arts collective Greyworld – are designed to get people thinking about the projects that could benefit from the £30Million raised by National Lottery players for good causes each week.

New research conducted to mark The National Lottery’s 27th birthday reveals community gardens, independent shops and exhibitions are some of the things people want to see more of in their communities. Walking/hiking trails, parks and public transport are already highly valued, but people would like to see more wellbeing centres, libraries and beehives.

Almost 20 percent of those surveyed said their community needed a friendlier neighbourhood and 16 percent wanted more social schemes and venues. Almost 50 percent said they were more interested in their community since the pandemic.

Half of those polled believe improvements to their community would result in a happier atmosphere. However, the research also found that 41 percent have noticed enhancements over the past decade, including more community events, green spaces and sports clubs – all areas that National Lottery funding supports.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said, “For 27 years National Lottery funding has been transforming communities, turning dreams into reality and making life better for millions of people. As we emerge from what has been a desperately challenging time, we want to inject hope and encourage communities to imagine what they could achieve with a helping hand from The National Lottery.”

18th November 2021

The National Lottery has been changing the lives of winners and supporting good causes across the UK since 1994. In that time, there have been more than 7,000 new millionaires created and by playing The National Lottery you raise over £4 million for Good Causes every dayΔ.

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