Local community group has the X Factor.
A local community group from Leeds rubbed shoulders with entertainment tycoon Simon Cowell and fellow X Factor co-star, Ayda Field as they enjoyed a celebrity star-studded event at the iconic Savoy Hotel in London.
Music mogul Simon Cowell praised The Association of Blind Asians who were awarded £33,122 from People’s Health Trust with funds raised through The Health Lottery. The money has enabled the group to assist and support people with disabilities in the Asian community, who otherwise may feel ostracized within society.
The project offers reading groups for people from South Asian communities with sight loss and is run in partnership with local libraries and community groups, providing its members with access to books, literature and magazines in Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi or Gujarati. As well as opportunities to grow their network and build stronger links within their community.
John Hume, Chief Executive of People’s Health Trust, said “It was important to celebrate the amazing work local charities and community groups are doing in their neighbourhoods to address health inequalities.
“Our evaluation showed that by being involved with a project, 91 per cent of the people felt less isolated.
“40 per cent said they would close immediately without money from The Health Lottery. For us to have this pipeline of funding through The Health Lottery is critical.”
The afternoon tea ceremony celebrated over £100 million being raised to support good causes and grass root projects in England, Scotland and Wales.
Martin Ellice, joint Managing Director of the Health Lottery said: “We are here to celebrate the £103 million raised today for more than 2,800 charities. We are also here to enforce our need to increase the jackpot to £1 million. We would like to thank our dear friend Simon Cowell for his support today, it’s been a wonderful day.”
During his speech, Simon Cowell also called for the government to allow The Health Lottery and other society lotteries to offer a bigger jackpot prize of £1m per draw. He added: “Charities supported by The Health Lottery would not exist without their support”.
Ballu Patel from The Association of Blind Asians said: “We had so much fun at the Tea Party. We felt honoured to be invited to join so many incredible charities to celebrate £100m raised through The Health Lottery."
“It was a fantastic day and so amazing to be at an event with celebrities like Simon Cowell.”
