We Help Build Social Success Stories
The Big Lottery Fund Scotland’s Investing in Communities programme was a five-year initiative which rolled out from 2010. It supported projects designed to strengthen people and places and to tackle inequalities in communities throughout Scotland.
We always put people at the centre of our work and the stories of those who benefited from the programme offered the best illustration of its impact.
Storyteller, Wendy Woolfson, and film maker Eileen Frater of Prancing Jack Productions captured first-hand accounts of how Investing in Communities made a difference to people’s lives. Compelling stories told how 20 projects built confidence and self-esteem, improved skills and employability and strengthened mental and physical wellbeing.
Engaging three- minute films and shorter bites described the impact of projects that included support services for families and children; charities helping the homeless; befriending services; and community cafes.
The films are an invaluable tool for the Big Lottery Fund Scotland and the projects it supported; offering real and realistic stories of the good work being delivered throughout Scotland.
These stories have developed a life of their own; being picked up by the press and widely shared on social media so that the good news has spread even further.
The Big Lottery Fund and the individual projects it has supported have been able to illustrate the impact of the Investing in Communities programme and show the good work that is happening across Scotland. Stories have been picked up by the press and have been widely shared on social media.
Because of our work, Big Lottery Fund Scotland can demonstrate and promote the impact of the Investing in Communities programme and the difference it has made to the lives of people in Scotland. The learning from this evaluation will inform future funding programmes and, potentially, change how they are evaluated.
Our storytelling approach caught a powerful narrative and generated wider interest in, and exposure for, the Big Lottery Fund Scotland and the projects it supported.
Brighten your day and watch David, Beth and Chloe tell their own stories.
Thank you to Prancing Jack Productions for their great work on this project and for the use of their image.