£43m is up for grabs

RECESSION-HIT communities across Oldham can apply to share an extra £43million pounds of lottery funding to help charities and individuals cope with the economic downturn.

The Big Lottery Fund announced the package to help tackle the longer term effects of the recession on communities. The money could be used for services such as debt advice or to help train volunteers.

As well as the extra cash, the Big Lottery Fund has also increased the budgets of some of its most popular funding programmes by around £45million. Full details of the grants available can be found by calling 08454 102030 or on www.biglotteryfund.org.uk