Lauren Laverne joins local teens and senior citizens to spray-paint the town red!

An unlikely collection of street artists gathered in the West Midlands today as senior citizens joined their young friends and BBC2’s ‘The Culture Show’ presenter, Lauren Laverne, to create a giant mural. The mural will be a permanent "thank you" to Lottery players, who in just one year alone, invested over £235million to help fund Good Causes projects across the Midlands.

The ‘artists’ are all members of the Arts 50 Alive Network. This Lottery-funded project works across the most deprived areas of the Midlands to integrate young and old through art. Working together allows the groups to find common ground and helps break down negative social stereotypes that can otherwise cause animosity and fear between the age groups.

Phil, aged 20 from Shenley Youth Group and Kath, aged 78, from Shenley Senior Citizens' Group, are just two of the ‘artists’ who benefit from the group. Kath says “Young people get bad press these days, and it can make older people like me nervous of them when I see them hanging around the streets.  Arts 50 Alive encourage us to get together with the young people and join in and learn about their interests and the things they love, hate and fear. It also gives them something to do and somewhere to go. If they want it, we can offer them friendly advice too - they forget that we were their age once!”

Phil comments, “School wasn’t for me, I started to get into trouble and was heading down a bad road.” He continues, “However going to youth groups and participating in projects like Arts 50 Alive inspired me to change things for myself and helped me turn my life around. I’m now training to be a youth worker to help young people who need a bit of direction like I did.” Phil now runs several evening youth groups at the Shenley Green Centre.

Accompanying the groups today is BBC2’s ‘The Culture Show’ presenter (and National Lottery Good Causes Ambassador) Lauren Laverne. Lauren comments "Lottery players raise £25million a week that helps fund amazing projects that really positively impact people's lives. I love the fact that old and young people can get together and learn about each other's lives through art. Street art, and I don't mean illegal graffiti and defacement, is a really expressive, creative art form. For me, any project – arts, culture, heritage or otherwise - that challenges prejudices and stereotypes is something to get involved with."

The special graffiti mural is part of a UK-wide roadshow, which aims to bring to life the diverse range of projects that benefit from the £25 million raised for Good Causes by Lottery players each week. Giant Lottery balls will be popping up at various locations around the Midlands this week, so local residents can see a few more examples of how Lottery funding benefits their area. Look out for them at Doddington Hall in Lincoln, The Herbert Museum and Art Gallery in Coventry, Nottingham’s Stonebridge City Farm and the Trentham Watersports Association at the Trentham Estate, Staffordshire.

Cleo Comerford from The National Lottery explains: “We think it’s important that Lottery players know about all of the fantastic projects, both locally and nationally, that are made possible thanks to the money they raise each week. We hope that Kath and Phil’s story at Arts 50 Alive, and the giant Lottery balls at community projects across the region, will help make people more aware of how Lottery funding is benefiting their local communities.”

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Ten Lottery funding facts you might not know:

1. Each week, Lottery players raise £25 million for Good Causes across the UK

2. In just one year alone (1st Apr 07 – 31st March 08), more than £235 million was given to help thousands of community projects in the East and West Midlands

3. More than 43,000 Good Causes in the East and West Midlands - both big and small - have received funding since the Lottery began

4. Last October the East Midlands celebrated a landmark amount of over £1 billion to date of Lottery funding given out across the region

5. The Lottery is 15 this year! Since its launch in 1994 more than £22 billion has been raised for Good Causes

6. Over 300,000 Lottery grants have been given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment since 1994. But they all have one thing in common, they make a positive difference to communities across the region, helping the lives of local people and improving the places they enjoy

7. Over half of all Lottery grants are under £5,000, helping smaller projects make a big difference

8. The National Lottery has been investing in elite sport for over 11 years. In fact, the Beijing Olympics was the most successful medal haul for Great Britain since 1908

9. Since the Lottery began in 1994, over £1 billion has been raised for projects that support people’s health and wellbeing

10. Over £10 billion of National Lottery funding has gone to projects that benefit children and young people.

To find out how to apply for National Lottery funding, visit: www.lotteryfunding.org.uk or call 0845 275 0000.