It was a dreich Thursday morning in Glasgow’s east end when Big Lottery Fund Scotland programme manager, Hayley Banks went to meet the amazing people behind Shettleston Community Growing Project. Under the guise of filming them as part of their ongoing application for funding, Hayley soon brightened up their day with the real reason for her visit.

Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the grant from our Community Led fund will be used to fund a project co-ordinator post and will allow the group to provide more healthy eating, cooking, gardening, volunteering and family fun day activities over the next three years.

The surprise film was created as part of a wider celebration to mark the first anniversary of the Big Lottery Fund’s Scotland new funding portfolio of small, medium and large grants which launched back in 2015.

Jane McBride, a member of the project’s board and who led on the group’s application, said: “This is phenomenal. We received a small Awards for All grant from the Big Lottery Fund a few years ago so I thought you might be here filming as a follow up to that. The last thing I ever expected to hear this morning was this fabulous news that we’ve got our funding for the next three years. This means we can really focus now on developing our ideas and activities on site. It’s a huge boost to our project and our amazing volunteers. And what’s more, it’s our 5th anniversary this month so that makes receiving this grant now just that extra bit special.”

In September 2015, the project had a major set-back when vandals torched their potting shed causing thousands of pounds of damage. Now almost a year on, and with their new Big Lottery Fund grant, things are certainly looking up. Congratulations Shettleston Community Growing Project!