LEVEL Centre celebrates after receiving over £250,000 of National Lottery funding t

LEVEL Centre celebrates after receiving over £250,000 of National Lottery funding to help increase reach, engagement and wellbeing across the community.

LEVEL Centre is celebrating after being awarded over £250,000 from the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, to support its work with disabled and learning disabled people, and the wider community. The arts charity, based in Rowsley, Derbyshire, will use the money to develop their ‘LEVEL - Next Steps’ project, including an outdoor programme within their new Bio-diverse Sensory Garden, to run across the next three years. Alongside their current work with disabled and learning disabled participants, the three year project will engage with the local community to improve mental health and social engagement, and broaden research around the benefits of working outdoors. Over the three years, LEVEL Centre aim to:

• Increase reach and community engagement
• Establish a more diverse activity programme
• Grow volunteering opportunities
• Improve biodiversity knowledge and skills for participants and the wider community
• Build social connections and improve well-being for all
• Foster a sense of community ownership and togetherness

LEVEL Centre specialise in creative projects and programmes for and by learning disabled people, disabled creatives, young people who are autistic or neurodivergent and the wider community. They deliver interactive digital installations, exhibitions, family friendly activities, artist residencies, workshops and outreach work. As part of the ‘LEVEL - Next Steps’ programme, the Bio-diverse Sensory Garden project will expand their work even further, in a completely new and exciting direction! The centre currently employs four members of staff, with only two full time - the funding means that they will be able to grow their team, increasing capacity and offering more to the local community.

The main activities the grant will fund over the next three years are:

• Bio-diverse Sensory Garden development, materials and maintenance
• Additional staffing
• Facilitated workshops onsite and out in the community
• Volunteer programme
• Training

LEVEL Centre take their environmental responsibility seriously, and are proactive in steps to improve the sustainability of the organisation and building. They have their own ‘Green Team’, and see the outdoor programme and Bio-diverse Sensory Garden project as an important part of their journey.

Kerry Andrews, Executive and Artistic Director at LEVEL Centre, says: “We are thrilled and deeply grateful for this generous funding! Over the next three years it will help us to expand our community workshop programme, develop and maintain our biodiverse sensory garden, and support our capacity. We’re so excited to establish a dedicated volunteer programme, enhancing social connection and supporting wellbeing, and giving opportunities to learn about and care for our environment. This investment not only enriches our community - it enables everyone to learn, grow, and thrive together.”
  
The National Lottery Community Fund which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes, and is the largest community funder in the UK, recently launched its new strategy. ‘It Starts with Community’ will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. It has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk