A group set up to empower minority groups across the region will receive a £350,000 boost from The National Lottery.
News of the cash injection for Multicultural Cumbria from The National Lottery Community Fund was revealed on ITV on Saturday by Stephen Mulhern.
The money will be used towards the set up of a multicultural community centre in Carlisle, enabling ethnic minorities to have a voice and to celebrate their culture with others.
Funding will also be used to further develop the Cumbrian Festival, which is held every year and aims to bring together as many different ethnic groups from across Cumbria as possible.
Saj Ghafoor, chief officer at Multicultural Cumbria, said: “This grant – the largest we have ever received – will bring transformational changes to this area of the country. We are truly humbled.
“The money will be a huge boost to the services and support which we are able to offer to multiple diasporas – enabling us to engage and empower hopefully many more people throughout Cumbria.
“It is both amazing and thrilling! Finally, multicultural people are getting some recognition and acknowledgement, and Cumbria now really is ready to show off our untapped resource of worldwide heritages and cultures within our communities.
“In Cumbria, we come from numerous ethnic backgrounds and speak 70 languages. This type of funding support is what we have been wishing for, for the past 15 years.
“And to receive national TV recognition, and on prime time Saturday night ITV, is just the icing on the cake, it is totally incredible!”
News of the grant was revealed to Tina Borgia who runs the charity’s Dance Carousel Around the World Project, which is focused on hosting dance classes exclusively for women from different ethnic groups.
Tina, a former dancer who has a connective tissue disorder, Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, was forced to stop dancing herself but now uses her artistic skills to facilitate dance classes.
Tina, 42, has worked with Multicultural Cumbria for 11 years.
She said: “I discovered there were many women who avoided doing exercise for reasons linked to cultural modesty or a lack of confidence, a feeling of not belonging to classes where few ethnic minorities attended.
“The grant will massively support the work which I am doing and hopefully encourage even more women from different diasporas to take part and enjoy dance.”
Saj added that until now, adequate financial support has been lacking as it has been a constant challenge to get people to understand the diversity of Cumbria.
She said: “We have already developed strong partnerships and projects and we now want to create a place where anyone from any background, race or origin can walk through our doors and be welcomed and receive support.
“We intend to create a place for schoolchildren, teachers, employers, employees and everyone in our communities.
“There is still more money that we need to raise to be able to do everything we want to do but this raises the bar to another level.”
News of the grant was shown before the main Lotto draw results, during the ad break in The Voice and will be show again next Saturday.
The National Lottery currently sponsors ITV’s two biggest Saturday night shows: The Voice UK and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. The National Lottery draw results are aired every Saturday night on ITV during the advertisement break.
Cumbria has received more than 5,000 grants from The National Lottery, totalling more than £342 million, since The National Lottery began in 1994.
