The West End of Morecambe is to benefit from a £1 million boost to help improve the area and pull together local residents, businesses and community groups plan to make their community an even better place to live in the future.
And the power will be directly in the hands of the community as it will be up to the people of the area to identify where the money should be spent.
The funding for the West End comes from the Big Local programme, launched by the Big Lottery Fund in July 2010 to support 150 small urban and rural communities to come together to make their areas even better places to live.
Funded through a £200m Big Lottery Fund investment and managed by Local Trust, Big Local is helping 150 small urban and rural communities across England to make their areas even better places to live.
Each Big Local area will receive at least £1m Lottery funding to spend over the next 10 years, enabling residents to identify what matters to them and take positive action.
This could include anything from creating new community facilities to training and employment schemes, tackling anti-social behaviour, or providing more activities for young people. There are no preconceived ideas on what the money should be spent on.
Residents will also benefit from a range of support, training and networking opportunities to enable them to make best use of their funding.
Councillor Janice Hanson, deputy leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “This is fantastic news for the people of the West End of Morecambe.
“Over the last 10-15 years much has been done to try and improve the area, but there is still so much to do if we are to ensure that the community can thrive and develop.
“There is a real community spirit in the area and this money will help local people realise their ambitions and make real improvements to both their lives and those of others.”
Bill Livesey, acting chief officer of Lancaster District CVS, added: “I’ve lived in the Lancaster area all my life and spent a lot of time working in the West End.
“It saddens me to see what has become of a once thriving and prosperous community, despite all the efforts over the last 15 years or so. This opportunity, for the people of the area to be involved in their own destiny is exciting.
“I have enjoyed working with Big Lottery so far on this project and I hope that CVS can continue to support the West End community as they develop and grow in strength with the aid of the ‘Big Local’ investment.”
• More information on Big Local is available at www.localtrust.org.uk