COMMUNITY groups can apply for two different sources of lottery funding to support local events and activities for up to £10,000.

The Big Lottery Fund’s ‘Celebrate England’ project has grants between £300 and £10,000 for street parties, festivals and exhibitions and the Heritage Lottery Fund is offering grants between £3,000 and £10,000 up to 2019 for initiatives commemorating the First World War.

Theresa Villiers, Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet, has encouraged groups in the borough to apply for funding as none has been awarded in the area yet.

She said: “We have many excellent community groups across Barnet: the people behind events like the East Barnet festival, the High Barnet classic car show, and so many others do an amazing job bringing people across the community together.

“Funding is available to support initiatives like these, and it is important that the word gets out.

“As well as the importance of commemorating the sacrifice of those who lost their lives, the World War One centenary allows us a chance to examine our shared history.”

Applications for ‘Celebrate England’ are open to voluntary organisations, schools and statuary bodies across England for projects that bring communities together, which involve people from different cultures or across different generations.

The former secretary for Northern Ireland has written to a number of local groups to highlight the opportunities available under the two lottery funded schemes.

Groups interested in applying can go to https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/celebrateengland or https://www.hlf.org.uk/looking-funding/our-grant-programmes/first-world-war-then-and-now.