After successfully applying to the Big Lottery Fund’s Celebrateprogramme, ‘Westlands Diversity Project’ has been awarded £7,810, which will be used to organise a community integration event that will bring people (children and adults) together, create opportunities for social interaction, and cultural exploration, consequently improve interculturality and a celebration of differences.

Swale district a previously predominantly White community has over the past five years seen a sudden influx of people from a wide range of ethnic and religious backgrounds – Travellers, Eastern Europeans, Spanish, Italians, Portugese, Asians, Chinese, and to name a few. This sudden cosmopolitan status means that the wider community and local schools are now coming in contact with cultures and believe that they had no knowledge of, and also have no support or help on how to navigate/bridge these differences. The project will address these issues by holding a series of intergenerational  workshops and activities, creating opportunities for the school community and the wider community to come together to explore each others culture, exchange learning and bridge cultures in a safe and contained environment.  For a community that barely have the opportunity to celebrate, this program will be an added opportunity for them to co-create a learning and celebratory programme.

Mrs Christine Locke, CEO, Diversity House, “We are looking forward to celebrating our differences and also to rejoice that we are all one family. We will work with community members and Westlands Primary School staff in the school to shape a really special and unique set of events which are sensitive to the local needs.”

Mrs Louise Hopkins, Headteacher, Westlands Primary School, “Our school serves an increasingly diverse population and we wish to embrace & celebrate this vibrant mix of cultures.  Our children deserve to have their cultural backgrounds recognised and valued as important within the school and wider community.  We are looking forward to working in partnership with Diversity House and are excited about this project.”

The Big Lottery Fund found that more than half (63%) of people asked reported that they have never or cannot remember ever coming together to celebrate with their local neighbourhood. If given the chance, more than 40% would like to celebrate their local history, and more than two fifths (43%) of those aged 16 to 24 would celebrate their local culture, art or music. In response to these findings the Big Lottery Fund asked for local groups and organisations of all shapes and sizes to apply for funding, to hold events or activities that would bring people together and celebrate what makes their local community special.

The Celebrate programme is the perfect opportunity for people to showcase and enjoy something important to their community, be it an iconic building, a precious landscape, a unique service or a community hero. There is£5 million available in total across the UK. For more information about the Celebrate programme please visit:https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/celebrate

About Big Lottery Fund

The total amount available across the UK for the Celebrate programme is £5 million. To find out more please visit: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/celebrate.

• *YouGov poll on behalf of the Big Lottery Fund with 2109 respondents, June 2016.
• The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. We put people in the lead to improve their lives and communities, often through small, local projects.
• We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Every year we invest over £650 million and award around 12,000 grants across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
• Since June 2004 we have awarded over £9 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

For any Media Queries, contact, Mrs Harshita Singh, Project Worker, Diversity House 01795 420455, info@diversityhouse.org.uk