Cosford in running for National Lottery Awards.
The RAF Museum Cosford is appealing for local votes as it strives for nationwide acclaim on BBC One in this year’s National Lottery Awards for its First World War in the Air project.
The project beat off stiff competition from 620 organisations to reach the public voting stage in this year’s National Lottery Awards – the annual search for the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.
First World War in the Air is competing against six other projects to be crowned the winner of the Best Heritage category. Winners of the seven National Lottery Awards categories will get a £2,000 cash prize, an iconic National Lottery Awards trophy and attend a star-studded Awards ceremony, broadcast on BBC One in September.
The Royal Air Force Museum’s popular First World War in the Air gallery brings to life the compelling stories of the people, innovations, engineering and aircraft of the Great War. 37,000 people have visited the exhibition in the last six months, with thousands more accessing information on the Museum’s websites.
Maggie Appleton, Chief Executive of the RAF Museum, says: “We’re delighted to have reached the finals of The National Lottery Awards. National Lottery money has really helped us to engage thousands of people with the story of the First World War in the Air. It’s easy to vote, so we’re hoping people will support us as it would be a fantastic reward for everyone involved in the project – our staff, volunteers and local community – to receive national recognition for their hard work.”
TV star and actor John Barrowman will be presenting the National Lottery Awards for the fifth time this year. He says: “The exceptionally selfless work carried out by National Lottery Awards finalists never fails to astound me. Their work deserves to be celebrated nationally; the community spirit, social cohesion and compassion.”
“It is crucial that you show your support for your local project so it can get the national glory that it richly deserves. National Lottery players should swell with pride that £34 million of Lottery funding is raised every single week for projects like this across the UK.”
To vote for First World War in the Air, please go to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards or telephone 0844 836 9670 and follow the campaign on twitter: hashtag #NLAwards. Voting runs for five weeks from 9am on Wednesday 24 June until midnight on Monday 29 July.
There are seven projects competing for votes across seven categories, reflecting the main areas of National Lottery funding: arts, sport, heritage, health, environment, education and voluntary/charity.