In the past week, two local organisations, the Sauchie Community Group and Simply Wee County Catering, have received grants from the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme.

For the community in Sauchie, this new funding means they’ll be able to build on recent successes like their fun day in June, with a year-long programme of local events, organised and delivered by the community itself.

At the same time, Simply Wee County Catering will develop its work as a social enterprise, providing jobs, training and voluntary opportunities for people with a disability and others in the Clackmannanshire area.

These are fantastic examples of the types of community and charity projects that benefit from Awards for All grants up and down Scotland every month.

While these funds can be used to promote social equality and tackle disadvantage, they can also help groups of local people run fun events and activities for the benefit of their neighbours and friends.

Over the next five years, I hope to be able to see an increase in Lottery Funding from Awards for All here in Clackmannanshire, so even more people and communities here can benefit.

Awards For All Scotland gives grants between £500 and £10,000. You don’t have to be a charity to apply, but must be an officially constituted organisation.

Funds are available for projects that aim to help improve local communities and the lives of people most in need, and groups and areas which haven’t received funding in the last few years are prioritised.

It funds a range of projects which involve bringing local people together, helping people learn, improving local spaces and getting people more active, and in addition to this month’s recipients, has previously included grants in this area to fund local gala days, restore town halls, keep walkers safe on the Ochil Hills and improve the lives of military veterans in our area.

Receiving grants like these is a significant success for these organisations, and will, in turn, make a positive difference to the lives of people in these communities. That’s why I’ve passed on my congratulations for their hard work in achieving this success. I hope to help local organisations build on this success in the next couple of months by meeting with representatives from Awards for All and the Big Lottery Fund to discuss with them what else we can do to increase the number of local groups receiving lottery funding in the months and years ahead.

Next week I’ll be holding surgeries in Alloa, Auchterarder, Kinross and Bridge of Earn. Full details are on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TasminaAhmedSheikhSNP