A Dartmouth charity is celebrating a huge scoop of £195,000 from National Lottery funding.

Dartmouth Caring has been awarded £195,786 from ‘The National Lottery Community Fund’, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

They will use the money to expand and move to the new Health and Wellbeing Centre at the top of town.

Dee Nutt, Chair of Trustees at Dartmouth Caring, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this grant means we can really make the most of being in our new home. I am delighted that, thanks to this grant, we can really help to make it work for everyone. This will make a big difference to people’s lives.”

Dartmouth Caring’s Manager Nick Hindmarsh said the funding will provide a great opportunity for Dartmouth Caring to develop a range of activities and support for the community, working in partnership with other groups.

He said: “The National Lottery grant is expected to benefit hundreds of local residents over the course of its life, in many ways.”

The money will help fund extensions of projects in the town and collaborations between Dartmouth Caring and other local organisations.

This includes an extension of the work already done with Dartmouth Rotary, Dartmouth Green Partnership, and Dartmouth Caring volunteers to landscape the gardens at the Health Centre.

Nick added: “Much of the work involved in delivering this project requires Dartmouth Caring to recruit new staff and new roles to build the capacity; so this work will only start in earnest from October.

“Watch out for the job adverts that will be appearing in late July and August, two in particular are new to Dartmouth Caring, a community engagement manager and a volunteer co-ordinator.”

National Lottery players raise more than £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes a share of this to projects to support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

During the pandemic, in 2020 alone, The National Lottery Community Fund distributed almost £1 billion to charities and community organisations across the UK.

A spokesperson for National Lottery said: “Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

“National Lottery players raise more than £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes.”

To get involved with Dartmouth Caring contact Nick Hindmarsh at 01803-835384 or [email protected]