FIX AND SHIFT TRAINING, based in Carmarthenshire, is appealing for votes after reaching the finals of the prestigious National Lottery Awards.
They are competing against six others in the Best Voluntary/ Charity Project category. It beat off stiff competition from more 1,300 organisations to reach the public voting stage in this year’s National Lottery Awards. This was a record number of entries to the annual search for the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.
The project with the most votes will be crowned the winner in their category. They will receive a £5,000 cash prize to spend on their project, an iconic National Lottery Awards trophy, and they will attend a star-studded glittering Awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC One in September.
Fix and Shift Training (FAST) started when its manager heard of a vulnerable adult who had sat in the dark for days because he didn’t know how to change a lightbulb, and he didn’t know who to ask to help him.
The community project provides training for vulnerable adults in Carmarthenshire, who then help others, from gardening, decorating, fitting smoke alarms, assembling flat pack furniture, to changing light bulbs for pensioners.
National Lottery funding helps this innovative training programme to help vulnerable people access training, help vulnerable people to feel safer in their own homes, and guides the trainees towards employment. The volunteers have created a Job Club to help each other, and the package of training, real experience and work preparation helps people who pass through the programme to change their lives.
Sarah Phillips from Commodum Ltd said: “We are delighted that Fix and Shift Training has been nominated for a National Lottery Award, and has reached the final public voting round.
“Fix and Shift Training is a DIY service run for vulnerable people by vulnerable people. This public recognition is a real boost for all our trainees, who work so hard to help others.
“It would mean so much to them to win this award, so I’m asking the public to continue to support this project by voting for us as the UK’s best Voluntary/ Charity project in the National Lottery Awards.”
National Lottery Awards spokesperson, Jackie O’Sullivan, added: “National Lottery players raise £30 million every single week for Good Causes across the UK and the work done with that money is truly life-changing.
“The National Lottery Awards celebrate the talent and dedication of the amazing staff and volunteers who run these incredible National Lottery funded projects for the benefit of their communities.
“Fix and Shift Training has worked very hard to become a finalist and they now need your support. So get voting!”
To vote for Fix and Shift Training, please go to lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/ awards or telephone 0844 836 9713 and follow the campaign on Twitter with hashtag #NLAwards. Voting runs for four weeks from 9am on 29 June until midnight on 27 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.
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