The Ulster Aviation Society has a fascinating collection of eleven aircraft at its Long Kesh hangar. The latest addition to the collection is an English Electric Canberra PR9, which was built in Belfast. It is intended that this important part of Northern Irish history will be restored to a condition when it can be the subject of illustrated talks, an educational DVD and guided tours.

Restoring such aircraft is obviously a very expensive undertaking so the Aviation Society was delighted to learn it had received a grant of £50 000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Heritage Lottery Fund was set up in 1994 to distribute British National Lottery money to cultural, history and conservation projects. It began life at the same time as the lottery and since its inception the Fund has granted over £4.4 billion to in excess of 33 900 deserving projects.

The one hundred kilometres of beautiful and ancient wooded river valley between Londonderry and the Sperrin Mountains is the Faughan Valley. A partnership consisting Derry City Council, The Woodland Trust and The Rural Area Partnership In Derry (RAPID) has been arranged in order to restore woodland habits and improve the interaction between the area and the local population. Proposed projects include rural crafts training, Heritage Weeks, woodland visits and walking festivals.

The Heritage Lottery Fund Helps Many Conservation Projects

To help the scheme, the Heritage Lottery Fund is looking to provide up to £1.2 million. Woodland Trust representative Brian Poots said, “We are absolutely delighted to receive the backing of the Heritage Lottery Fund. With our collective efforts, we can make a positive and lasting contribution to the beautiful Faughan Valley; it’s good news for the landscape, for wildlife and for people.”

The Heritage Lottery Fund certainly does use money from the British National Lottery for deserving causes so the news that its budget is to be increased is very good news. As the income to the UK lottery draw is growing, the Fund is to receive an extra £25 million per annum to bring its total to £205 million.

It is clear the UK lottery draw money distributed by the Heritage Lottery Fund has been used very wisely so the increased funding will mean more historical buildings, conservation projects, libraries and museums will benefit in the following years. With each weekly British National Lottery draw the whole nation wins.

If you would like to know more about the lottery and how to play, please visit UK lottery draw.