The job of Scottish Secretary takes me up and down the country, meeting charities, enterprises and businesses of all sizes.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first draw of the National Lottery yesterday, one thing in particular struck a chord with me - the number of places I've been where a charity, an enterprise or even an individual has benefited from National Lottery funding.
In two decades, over 55,000 Scottish good causes and projects of all sizes have shared £2.6 billion of lottery funding.
With people playing across the whole UK the prizes are bigger and most importantly the number of good cause projects we can support in Scotland is greater.
From £13m of Lottery funding spent on the restoration of Kelvingrove to the £16.5m provided to enable construction of Dynamic Earth you really don't have to go far to see the positive impact the National Lottery has made on Scotland. It’s funded some of our biggest restoration projects and helped build some of our most striking buildings.
Earlier this year I visited the Verdant Works project in Dundee. Heritage Lottery funding of £1.8m has enabled them to restore the 200-year-old mill, double the size of their current museum establish a family history research site, and expanding their education programmes. This, along with the £9m of lottery funding for the city's V&A museum is having a tremendous impact on changing the fabric and the landscape of a historic city and its waterfront.
The lottery is not just about million pound projects - the nuts and bolts of what the lottery is about is changing the lives of the community and the individual for the better.
Last week I was in Lochgelly in Fife visiting BRAG, a social e
nterprise which helps individuals into employment and works towards regenerating communities across the country. I saw how £22,000 of National Lottery funding took 14 young people who had been excluded from their school into alternative education teaching them practical engineering courses.
The end product of their course was building a racing car which along with their families they took to races across Scotland. Lottery funding has engaged these young people who had once been seen as unteachable. Every one of them will soon be returning to the school which they had been excluded from, returning with a passion for learning. £22,000 of National Lottery funding has made a difference to 14 children and in turn their families, their schools and their community as a whole.
So whether it’s funding grand restorations of iconic Scottish buildings or helping to make a positive impact on the lives of individuals, families and communities in Scotland, the National Lottery has made a tremendous impact for the good in all our lives. It’s a brilliant example of what we achieve together as part of the UK.
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