At least £1 million of Lottery good cause funding is to flow into Toothill in Swindon as the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) announces the first 50 areas across England to benefit from its Big Local Trust programme.

BIG is investing up to £200 million over the next ten years to help turn up to 150 urban and rural neighbourhoods into better places for everyone to live.

The targeted neighbourhoods have all been selected following extensive analysis and discussion and are all places where people face many social obstacles and have a history of difficulty in obtaining resources, including funding from BIG, to help overcome them.

Mark Cotton, Big Lottery Fund Head of the South West region, said: "The Big Local Trust is a dedicated Lottery funding stream to help people in neighbourhoods such as Toothill to identify local issues and to develop the skills and confidence necessary to change things for the better.

"We hope that by securing funding for the long-term and by offering a commitment to providing dedicated local support, the Big Local Trust will bring lasting positive changes to Toothill and its residents."

An independent charitable trust will be set up to run the programme and today BIG is calling for expressions of interest from organisations who wish to apply to run the Trust. Organisations interested in becoming a Trustee are being asked to contact BIG by Thursday 12 August 2010.

In the meantime, BIG will be working with a wide range of local organisations in each of the first 50 neighbourhoods. At least 50 more areas across England will be selected by BIG in the next 12 to 18 months to benefit from the programme.

The programme builds on BIG’s commitment to pioneering flexible, long-term and locally determined approaches such as the Fair Share Trust programme, which since 2002, has been investing £50 million in 77 neighbourhoods across the UK.       

Cllr Brian Mattock, Cabinet Member for Housing, Community and Partnerships, said: "This is fantastic news for Swindon. Not only will it empower Toothill residents to make decisions on real issues that affect them, it will also give them a chance to forge stronger links with each other and organisations across the borough in support of the same cause - to help make Toothill a better place to live now and in the future.

"A trust will be set up within 15 months and then residents can set Toothill on the path to improvement by addressing social and economic concerns in the community, similar to Big Lottery funding work already undertaken in Penhill and Pinehurst.

"We hope to see the first wave of funding in October 2011 which means we can now start working with Voluntary Action Swindon and Swindon Racial Equality Council to ensure opportunities are available to Toothill residents and groups over the next ten years as part of this programme."