The 12 Days of Christmas - A festive dozen of National Lottery Good Causes

"A partridge in a pear tree"

Over 25,000 projects at community gardens, orchards, and green spaces have had some funding since 1995, thanks to National Lottery players. Open air spaces like Charlton Down Community Orchard that planted over 150 apple, plum, and pear trees for Charminster Parish, near Dorchester, twenty years ago.

"Two turtle doves"

Here's a peaceful pairing, from over 30,000 projects for peacemakers and community cohesion:

The Peace Museum, Shipley, Bradford
preserves the history of peace while sparking new peacemakers. Meanwhile a peace education project led by Peace & Justice, Edinburgh, involves local youth views and voices in peace making.

"Three French Hens"

Think of caring, sharing hens and over 25,000 projects pop out as having had National Lottery funds for family support involving Carers, mums and babies/toddlers, single parents, and more.

Meanwhile, hundreds of projects have French speaking/translation, like Le Club Picoti, Glasgow, using National Lottery funding in 2023 for a French-speaking space and cultural hub for families.

"Four calling birds"

This awesome foursome comes from over 3,000 helplines and other projects all receiving funds for lifesaving lifelines and everyday listening ears:

• Silverline for isolated, lonely elders
• Citizens Advice Bureau's telephone support services
• various other telephone counselling across the UK
• befriending projects like West Wellbeing Suicide Prevention, West Belfast whose 2025 grant funded two years of mental health support, peer support, crisis intervention, and befriending.

"Five gold rings"

Multi-Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave won his fifth rowing gold medal at his fifth and final Olympics, Sydney 2000. It was the only Olympics for which Steve benefitted from National Lottery funding, but he's publicly thanked National Lottery players for the difference made to him and the untold differences made to so many other athletes.

Close to 400 Olympic and Paralympic golds (and well over 1,000 medals of all colours) have been won by athletes and para-athletes since 1997 when The National Lottery started boosting top-level sport in the UK through the World Class Performance Programme, sporting facilities, world class coaching and more. Also, billions have gone to grassroots sport (not just Olympic sports).

"Six geese a-laying"

'Greenland White-fronted Geese' are among birds enjoying the extra 65 acres of land at UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere, Wales, bought thanks to National Lottery players. Many other bird-friendly, animal-friendly, plant-friendly nature reserves get some funding support - all around the British Isles from the mountains to the seas.

Symbolically, laying foundations for the future: over 70,000 projects have spanned job readiness, debt management, skills, social enterprise, work training, and job coaching since 1995.

"Seven swans a-swimming"

Almost 8,000 swimming and pool-based projects of all types have had funding thanks to National Lottery players. Including many swimming pools around the UK like The Aquatics Centre built for London 2012. Plus, swim clubs, swim coaching, swim lessons, lifesaving lessons, wild/river/freshwater/sea swimmers, and many Olympic medal-winning swimmers.

"Eight maids a-milking"

Hundreds of farmers, farmer's markets, women farmers training in animal and organic farming, community-owned village shops, locally grown food cooperatives, community food hubs, and mobile pop-up markets have had funding thanks to National Lottery players. As well as projects like We Are Farming Minds, Herefordshire, raising awareness and supporting on mental health across farming communities.

"Nine ladies dancing"

Tis the season to be jolly and show off some merry moves, and a medley of styles appear in over 20,000 dance and movement projects strictly due to the funding from National Lottery players.

Community dances, chair dancing for elderly people with dementia, Flamenco, Hip-hop/street dance, Country & Western line dancing, tea dances, tap dancing, ballet, Indian classical dance forms - and Bollywood projects like Supporting Sisters’ weekly Bollywood dance class for the fitness of women and young girls across Bury North during 2025.

"Ten lords a-leaping"

Take a leap with us as we hop, skip and jump our way over some of the projects and people funded thanks to National Lottery players...

Long jumpers, triple jumpers, high jumpers, pole vaulters, hurdlers, divers, ski jumpers, trapeze artists/circus skills, gymnasts/vaulters, and breakdancers like the backflipping b-boys and b-girls of Brynna and Llanharan, Pontypridd, Wales, learning from The Hold Up’s breakdance workshops funded in 2024.

"Eleven pipers piping"

In nearly 40,000 music projects there are many pipe blowers: Pipe bands, Great Highland Bagpipers, The National Piping Centre, Scotland, the Youth Pipe Band of Scotland, cross-cultural workshops combining Scottish pipers with African drummers, piping and its revival like a 2015 project led by Kildoag Pipe Band, Derry, Northern Ireland. Also, there are many organists, and projects restoring pipes to organs in churches and other buildings, plus whistlers and flute players among those funded.

Other types of piping funded include repairs or replacement downpipes at many churches other buildings, as well as piped drainage systems at many schools and playing fields throughout the UK.

"Twelve drummers drumming"

Here's a dozen toe-tapping, snare-cracking and cymbal-slashing projects, and people - all keeping their own time thanks to National Lottery players:

Drummers, drumming workshops, Steel drum bands, Samba drumming workshops, military bands, school bands, drums at festivals, carnivals and parades, African Drumming Education Workshops. There’s also the brilliantly named Brum & Bass (yes, Birmingham-based) cultural heritage project funded in 2024. And finally, Woodpeckers – sometimes heard, rarely seen, 'drumming' in the woods at properties and nature reserves funded across the UK.

There are countless other projects beyond these festive delights - all funded, thanks to National Lottery players, to deliver positive impacts across the UK.