BAG A SHARE OF £15,000 COMMUNITY GIVEAWAY!

Community groups and organisations with a ‘Big Idea’ to make their area better are being encouraged to apply for a £15,000 giveaway, supported by 16 local businesses.

The Big Idea competition is offering three not-for-profit groups prizes of FREE professional support which could be anything from drawing up plans for a new village hall, revamping a charity’s marketing package from its website to leaflets, offering a community organisation legal advice on purchase of a new premises or giving a school accountancy support.

Three finalists will be chosen from all the groups who apply. The overall winner will receive up to £10,000 worth of help, the two runners up will receive up to £2,500 of support each.

The initiative is being organised by firms who work together as part of Lincolnshire ProHelp (see Notes to Editors for list). Now in its 12th year, Lincolnshire ProHelp has helped hundreds of organisations over the years with free professional support, help and advice. It is supported by charity Business in the Community.

All not-for-profit groups have to do to apply for The Big Idea is fill out a simple application form by Friday, May 2nd. The finalists will be invited to present details of their projects to Lincolnshire ProHelp on Thursday, June 5th and the overall winner and runners up will be chosen.

Chairman of Lincolnshire ProHelp, Simon Shaw from Optima Graphic Design Consultants, said: “We want more community groups and not-for-profit organisations to come forward and take advantage of the free support we can offer because we’ve got the capacity to do more. We’re also keen to see more local businesses come forward to offer their expertise as it’s good to be able to provide a wider range of services.

“We’re hoping that the Big Idea giveaway will give some deserving groups the support they need to make their ideas a reality while raising awareness of Lincolnshire ProHelp.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what different applications come in – with a top prize of up to £10,000 worth of professional support, I’m sure there’ll be some projects in the mix which can involve several professionals and will really make a difference in their community.”

In 2013, Lincolnshire ProHelp supported 43 organisations and typically, gives around 250 hours of support each year.

Groups helped have included Lea Village Hall, which had architectural plans drawn up by Simons, Horncastle Youth Centre, which had help negotiating a lease from JH Walter and the Nomad Trust, which had a new logo designed by Optima.

Lincolnshire Co-op is a member of ProHelp and has given support such as updating marketing materials for LincUp, the Lincolnshire Credit Union, and the development of a new logo and brand identity for the Riverside Access and Training Centre in Gainsborough.

“Being involved in ProHelp is one of the ways we make sure we’re doing our bit in the local community,” said Retail Marketing Manager Sam Turner. “For businesses, it’s a simple and effective way of giving back.”

To apply for community support from The Big Idea, go to www.biglincolnshireidea.com and download a simple application form.