Toothill has got a lotto to celebrate (From This Is Wiltshire)

Toothill has got a lotto to celebrate

9:10am Wednesday 28th July 2010 in

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Toothill has hit the jackpot to the tune of £1million.

Residents in the West Swindon district are celebrating at the news that it has received lottery funding as part of its Big Local Trust programme.

“This is enormously exciting news,” said Anne Carter, minister of the Toothill Church in Dunwich Drive. “This is a huge amount of money and there are great opportunities for us to get-together with some joined-up thinking among all the different groups in the area to make build for the future.

Toothill is among the first 50 areas across England to benefit from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) which, over the next decade, is investing up to £200m to turn 150 urban and rural neighourhoods into better places for everyone to live.

The targeted neighbourhoods are all places where people face many social obstacles and which have a history of difficulty in obtaining resources, including lottery funding, to help overcome them.

Mark Cotton, Big Lottery Fund head of the south west region, said: “The Big Local Trust is a dedicated lottery funding stream to help people in neighbourhoods such as Toothill to identify local issues and to develop the skills and confidence necessary to change things for the better.

“We hope that by securing funding for the long-term and by offering a commitment to providing dedicated local support, the Big Local Trust will bring lasting positive changes to Toothill and its residents.”

In reality, the money won’t become available to communities for another 18 months.

In the meantime, an independent charitable trust will be set up in Toothill to run the programme and BIG is calling for expressions of interest from organisations who wish to apply to run the Trust. Organisations interested in becoming a Trustee have until Thursday, August 12 to register.

Asked what she saw as the priorities in Toothill which could be addressed with the lottery money, Rev Carter said: “There are a lot of challenges, but I wouldn't want to begin to suggest what we should be doing. There are a whole range of really exciting things which people have wanted to do in Toothill, but have never had the opportunity.

“It is time for some blue sky thinking, to dream what can be achieved in Toothill.”

She added: “We have got 18 months to really plan and make sure we think about what we can do to benefit community life in Toothill.”